Blackstone, Embassy 'very close' to listing Rs 5,000 crore REIT

BENGALURU: Embassy Office Parks is set to list India's first ever real estate investment trust (REIT) on the bourses in the next one month, its chief executive Michael Holland has said. The REIT is "very close" to raising Rs 5,000 crore ($700 million) by diluting 20% stake, which values the trust at $5 billion. "We have received a very positive response, both domestically and internationally, from investors and we will be moving ahead in the next four to six weeks," Holland told TOI. The timing would make it possibly the last big public market fund-raising, ahead of the upcoming general elections. Embassy Office Parks, co-owned by private equity giant Blackstone and Jitu Virwani's Embassy Group, filed for an REIT in September and was expected to start trading after Diwali, but volatile market conditions made the company adopt a cautious approach.Blackstone president and chief operating officer Jonathan Gray told TOI last week that the REIT will be a big moment in the country's real estate sector as it opened up liquid investment options in a largely illiquid sector.