CapitaLand India Trust invests in three Chennai industrial facilities

CHENNAI: CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) has entered into a forward purchase agreement with Casa Grande Group to acquire three industrial facilities at OneHub Chennai, for a purchase consideration of Rs 268 crore (S$43.2 million). This includes CLINT’s partial funding for the lease of the project land and full funding for the development of the project.

As part of the forward purchase arrangement, CLINT will provide funding in three phases and subsequently acquire the facilities upon completion of the construction of each phase, subject to a stabilisation period of six months for leasing, the company said.

The facilities part of the deal make up a total net leasable area of 0.79 million square feet, and the acquisition of phase one is expected to be completed by the first half of 2025.

The transaction offers CLINT further diversification into the industrial asset class.

One Hub Chennai is jointly developed by CapitaLand Development, Mizuho Bank and JGC Corporation and is around 1,250 acre in size, occupied by global names including Hitachi Automotive Systems, Yamaha Music and Daicel Corporation.

CLINT entered into similar forward purchase transactions with Casa Grande Group in the past for three industrial facilities at Chennai's Mahindra World City and completed the acquisition of its first industrial facility in 2022- a 0.42 million square feet facility now fully leased to a global contract manufacturer of electronics. In December 2023, CLINT completed the second acquisition of two additional industrial facilities, both of which are fully leased to the same electronics manufacturer and a global energy solutions provider.

“The acquisition will further diversify CLINT’s portfolio and grow our industrial presence in Chennai, which is developing into an important hub for electronics component manufacturers in south India. It will also enable us to offer our tenants high-quality facilities at OneHub Chennai, an established industrial township with plug and play infrastructure," Sanjeev Dasgupta, COE, CapitaLand India Trust Management (the Trustee-Manager of CLINT), said.

CLINT’s portfolio in Chennai currently comprises two business parks (International Tech Park Chennai and CyberVale), three industrial facilities at Mahindra World City and a data centre under development in Ambattur which is expected to be completed in 2025.