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US-based private equity firm Blackstone Group has formed a joint venture with premium real estate developer Hiranandani Group to acquire and operate logistics and warehousing assets all across India.
With this joint venture, both the companies are expected to initially invest over Rs 2,500 crore in developing the assets of Hiranandani’s logistics wing GreenBase spread across 12 million sq ft. as well as other assets pertaining to land or warehousing in other areas.
This will comprise of 267 acres of Hiranandani GreenBase in Pune, 115 acres spread across Chennai’s industrial suburb Orangadum, 73 acres in Nashik and nearly 25 acres in Durgapur, West Bengal.
As the largest owner of warehousing spaces, Blackstone has predominantly considered Logistics as an important arena for growth and investments globally.
In India alone, it has a vast expanse of office and retail space to its credit, apart from being involved in commitments crossing $6.6 billion across 35 transactions. But this joint venture will be the maiden one for a global investor to inject funds into the logistics sector.
“There could be short-term hiccups, which happens in every economy, but we are certainly on the path to become a $5 trillion economy. We have a very bullish view of the economy in the long term. Logistics and warehousing will be one of the major beneficiaries of this growth.“
– Niranjan Hiranandani , Managing Director , Hiranandani Group
Blackstone is also is in talks with Allcargo Logistics to purchase around 70% stake in its 9 million sq ft warehousing portfolio. The American multinational private equity investor is expected to invest over $150 million through both the transactions including $90 million for a majority stake in Allcargo Logistics. It is also expected to purchase stakes in Hiranandani’s GreenBase.
Hiranandani Group since December, last year had expressed its desire in developing industrial and logistics parks across the country. For his very purpose, it has more than 500 acres of land bank reserved in different parts of the country while it continues looking out for strategic opportunities inappropriate locations for acquiring new land parcels.
