Embassy, Ivanhoe partners to invest $500 mn on office space

New Delhi: Realty firm Embassy Group on Tuesday announced partnership with Canadian fund Ivanhoe Cambridge to set up a $500 million investment platform to develop commercial properties, primarily premium office space.

Ivanhoe Cambridge is a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers. As per the agreement, Ivanhoe Cambridge will infuse $400 million and Embassy group $100 million in the platform. The Embassy Group said in a statement that it has partnered with Ivanhoe Cambridge to "launch an investment platform focused on office business parks in campus based and mixed use environments in India".

The Bengaluru-based Embassy Group will be responsible for all real estate development, project management, leasing and operations. Ivanhoe Cambridge will leverage their expertise in investment. "The platform will have an investment capacity of $500 million with Ivanhoe Cambridge and Embassy investing in an 80:20 ratio, with an initial focus on the Southern Indian markets of Bengaluru and Chennai," the statement said.

The platform will invest in develop-to-core and acquisition of partially developed business park opportunities. Both the partners seek to cater to the preferences of the millennial workforce in providing flexible workplaces and building sustainable communities across key Indian urban centres. The concept aims at meeting the demand in the expansion of Global Capability Centres and Research and Development Campuses.

The seed asset for the platform will be the first phase of the 60-acre Embassy East Business Park located in Whitefield Main Road in Bengaluru. The first phase will be developed on a land parcel of 9 acres, with a gross leasable area of 1.3 million sq ft. The upcoming business park also offers co-living and retail space. The first phase of the project is expected to be ready for occupancy by early 2024.

"This new venture with Embassy will allow us to reinforce our presence in India, a key country in our diversification strategy in Asia," said Karim Habra, Head of Europe & Asia-pacific at Ivanhoe Cambridge. Over the last couple of decades, he said several global corporations have acknowledged India as a scalable global innovation hub catalysed by a deep, world-class talent pool.