Mindspace Business Parks REIT gains around 12% in its trading debut

Blackstone Group Inc-backed Mindspace Business Parks REIT gained as much as 12% in its trading debut in Mumbai amid strong investor demand for yield.

The units of Mindspace, the second REIT to list in India after Embassy Office Parks in April 2019, climbed as high as ₹308.90 and closed at ₹303.70 in Mumbai versus an issue price of ₹275. The initial public offering that raised ₹4500 crore ($600 million) was subscribed 13 times.

The success of Mindspace REIT opens a fundraising avenue for India’s cash-starved property sector. While the commercial office market has attracted investors including Brookfield Asset Management Inc., the residential space has struggled to gain traction in recent years.

“REIT is a revolution in the Indian office market and the type of returns we are seeing today may go up,” said Samantak Das, chief economist and head of research at JLL, a property research and brokerage firm. “There are many others office players already on run to get listed.”

Mindspace REIT had previously raised ₹1,520 crore at ₹275 apiece from 54 anchor investors, including Singapore’s GIC Private Ltd., Fidelity Funds, Nomura Trust & Banking, HSBC Global Investment Funds and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The company’s REIT portfolio contains 23 million square feet of completed area and 2.8 million square feet of under construction, comprising key tenants such as Accenture, JPMorgan Chase, Qualcom, Barclays and Amazon.

“Mindspace REIT is backed by Grade A rent-yielding assets and rental trend was quite robust even during Covid-19, which shows how the underlying assets will perform going forward,” Das said.