GE enters Indian property market

GE Commercial Finance Real Estate on today announced it had invested $63 million in Ascendas India IT Parks Fund set up by Singapore-based business space provider Ascendas group.

This investment marks GE Commercial Finance Real Estate's entry into the Indian property market. Ascendas India IT Parks Fund plans to invest in information technology parks that support the IT and IT-enabled services industry, a high-growth sector in the country.

Ascendas holds 30 per cent of the fund, while the remainder has been placed with institutional investors, including GE Commercial Finance Real Estate. Recently, Ascendas had placed with the fund two of its main assets, Bangalore's showpiece International Tech Park, for which it was the lead developer, and the Vanenburg IT Park in Hyderabad.

The Ascendas fund plans to acquire and develop up to approximately $500 million in assets over the next seven years.

"Following this transaction, GE Commercial Finance Real Estate Asia Pacific will have total real estate investments of more than $4 billion with operations in Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India," said Scott Bayman, president and CEO, GE India.

"Ascendas has proven record in managing business properties in the Indian real estate sector. This tie-up combines GE's financial strength with Ascendas' deep tenant relationships, enabling us to build a strong, diversified commercial real estate portfolio that will help support India's fast-growing IT support sector," he added.

Commenting on the investment, Chong Siak Ching, President and CEO of Ascendas Pte, said, "Structured as a private fund, the India IT Parks Fund is an ideal vehicle for sophisticated investors to invest in real estate, both matured and development assets, in India's fast-expanding economy."

GE Commercial Finance Real Estate is one of the world's leading resources for commercial real estate capital. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, the business has assets over $28 billion and more than 30 offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

GE Commercial Finance offers businesses of all sizes "" an array of financial services and products worldwide. With over $230 billion in assets and an expertise in the mid-market segment, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programmes and innovative structured capital to help customers grow.