Blackstone sells 33 crore units in REIT Nexus Select Trust for ₹4,550 crore via block deal

Global investment firm Blackstone sold 33 crore units in its REIT firm 'Nexus Select Trust' for around ₹4,550 crore through a block deal on stock exchanges on Friday, August 9, as part of a strategy to monetise its real estate portfolio. Blackstone currently holds a 43 per cent stake in Nexus Select Trust, India's first real estate investment trust (REIT) backed by retail properties.

So far, Blackstone has sponsored three REITs in India, including Embassy Office Parks REIT, MindspaceREIT, and Nexus Select Trust. The latter got listed on exchanges last year after raising over ₹3,000 crore through public issues.

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Blackstone-Nexus block deal

Blackstone sold 33 crore units in Nexus Select Trust at ₹138 apiece, against the floor price of ₹135 apiece. Domestic mutual funds and insurance companies, including ICICI Prudential, HDFC Life Insurance, and HDFC Life Insurance, picked up a majority of units. Among foreign companies, Wells Capital Group and Carmignac bought units of the REIT firm.

Many existing investors also increased their unit holdings in Nexus Select Trust. Blackstone has monetised its investment in Nexus Select Trust through this block deal. After the divestment, Blackstone's stake in Nexus Select Trust will be reduced to 21 per cent. 

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According to exchange data on the NSE and BSE, Blackstone, through its affiliates, Blackstone Real Estate Partners (BREP) Asia II Indian Holding Co IX (NQ) and BREP Asia SG Red Fort Holding NQ, offloaded units of real estate investment trust (REIT) firm Nexus Select Trust via separate bulk deals.

Blackstone sold 31.55 crore units, or 20.82 per cent of Nexus Select Trust, through its arms. BREP Asia II Indian Holding Co IX (NQ) sold 18.89 crore units of Nexus Select Trust on the NSE, while BREP Asia SG Red Fort Holding NQ disposed of 11.82 crore units of REIT on the bourse.

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In addition, BREP Asia II Indian Holding Co IX (NQ) also offloaded 83.97 lakh units of Nexus Select Trust on the BSE. The units were disposed of at an average price of ₹138 per unit, taking the combined transaction value to over ₹4,354 crore.

Nexus Select Trust's units fell 4.93 per cent to close at ₹137.05 apiece on the NSE, while they ended at ₹137.88 per piece, down 4.51 per cent on the BSE. Nexus Select Trust's portfolio comprises 17 shopping malls with a gross leasable area of 9.9 million square feet spread across 14 cities, two complementary hotel assets (354 keys) and three office assets with a gross leasable area of 1.3 million square feet.