Investment giant Blackstone has sold its entire 23.5 per cent stake in Embassy Office Parks REIT for around Rs 7,100 crore.
Blackstone sold the shares in the open market at Rs 316 per share on the BSE.
Embassy Office Parks REIT is India’s first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) sponsored by Blackstone and the Embassy group.
The shares were purchased by various entities that included SBI Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund and Fidelity Funds.
Embassy REIT was listed on the bourses in 2019 after raising around Rs 5,000 crore through a public issue. The Embassy group has around an 8 per cent stake in Embassy Office Parks REIT.
A PTI report quoted Embassy Group chairman-cum-managing director Jitu Virwani who said: “We welcome the expansion of the REIT’s public float register to include more high-quality investors. We believe that this transaction underscores the success of REITs in India and demonstrates how the world’s leading investors view the criticality of well-run, high-quality REITs such as Embassy REIT in their portfolios”.
The REIT’s investor base includes domestic mutual funds, insurers and foreign institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds.
“The business is in great shape, as demonstrated by its recent strong performance, in which the REIT delivered one of its highest leasing achievements to date in the first half of this fiscal,” Virwani said.
He said the wide range of unitholders adds depth and liquidity to the REIT’s units, provides for more efficient price discovery and improves its governance.
Embassy REIT CEO Aravind Maiya said the entity’s public shareholding continues to go up. It has increased to 92 per cent from 30 per cent at the time of its float.
“We paved the way for REITs in India and the increased investor participation is heartening.”
This is not the first time Blackstone has sold its stake: last year, it raised around Rs 2,650 crore by selling its shares in Embassy Office Parks REIT. After this transaction, its stake declined to 24 per cent from around 32 per cent. Embassy REIT has a portfolio of 45.3 million square feet.
