GIC buys half-share of Tishman India office development

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, GIC, has acquired 50 percent of a large office development by Tishman Speyer, the New York-based developer and fund manager, in a deal thought to be valued at more than $250 million.

The formation of a 50:50 joint venture to own the WaveRock office development project in Hyderabad, India, was announced today, although the price was not disclosed.

WaveRock, is partially complete with 1.5 million square feet already leased to global technology and industrial companies such as TCS Accenture, DuPont, Cap Gemini, BirlaSoft among others.

The final phase of the development is currently under development and expected to be completed over the next two years. Total buildout for the property, which is located near the financial district corridor at Gachibowli, a special economic zone being promoted by the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, will be 2.5 million square feet and will cater for more than 20,000 professionals.

“GIC has been one of the world’s most successful institutional property investors for many years,” said Tishman Speyer senior managing director, Michael Spies. “The decision to co-invest in the WaveRock project with us is very exciting and gratifying. We are very confident that this will be a successful collaboration and that WaveRock will continue to be the cornerstone of our firm’s growing presence in India.”

“GIC is confident in Hyderabad's future as one of the fast-growing cities in India and WaveRock will be an accretive income asset in our portfolio,” said Loh Wai Keong, managing director and co-head Asia, GIC Real Estate, who added he hopes GIC and Tishman can explore more investment opportunities together in India.

GIC has made a number of real estate investments in India recently. Last month, GIC formed a joint venture partnership with the New Delhi-headquartered developer DLF to invest in residential projects. GIC will be investing INR19.9 billion (€266 million; $300 million) via the partnership.

At the end of last year, it set up a partnership with the Gurgaon-based developer Vatika Group to invest in residential properties in Gurgaon, a financial district on the outskirts of Delhi. It also has a JV with the Bangalore-based Brigade Group for residential and mixed-use development projects, via which it first invested INR15 billion in September last year.

As of June 30, 2015, Tishman had acquired, developed and/or managed a portfolio of approximately 139.1 million square feet with a total value of approximately $74.7 billion.