Allianz-Shapoorji Pallonji JV acquires WaveRock Complex for $250 million

Mumbai: SPREF II Pte. Ltd., a joint venture between Allianz Group and Shapoorji Pallonji Group, on Wednesday said it has acquired a 2.4 million sqft special economic zone (SEZ) property Waverock in Hyderabad from TSI Business Parks (Hyderabad) Ltd for $250 million.

Located at Gachibowli financial district –Information Technology hub in Hyderabad, the IT SEZ comprises four office towers with some large multinational companies such as Apple, Tata Consultancy Ltd, Accenture and DBS among others.

“This is one of the marquee commercial developments in India and is a terrific addition to Allianz’s office portfolio in 24/7 global cities. Our first investment in SPREF II, SP Infocity Pune, is outperforming its business plan. Office investments in India continue to offer attractive risk-adjusted returns,” said Rushabh Desai, chief executive officer (CEO) -Asia Pacific, Allianz Real Estate in a statement.

In Octover 2017, global insurance firm Allianz Group had partnered with Shapoorji Pallonji Group setting up a $500 million real estate fund—SPREF II— to invest in commercial office properties in India. The transaction marked the German firm’s first investment into real estate in India.

SPREF II’s strategy is to leverage structural trends in six tier one cities to build a long-term, cash flow producing office portfolio by acquiring a blend of develop-to-core, forward purchases, and stabilized or stabilizing assets, the Singapore-domiciled fund said in the statement. The six cities the fund would target are Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and National Capital Region, it added.

“The acquisition of WaveRock represents the confidence of global institutional investors in the Indian commercial real estate growth story. This investment is in line with our vision of creating a sustainable commercial real estate portfolio across key metros in India,” said Rajesh Agarwal, chief executive officer Shapoorji Pallonji Investment Advisors.

Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate already has a $ 250 million equity platform with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Asian Development Bank to develop affordable housing projects across India.