Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Ltd., the trustee-manager of Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust), has entered into a forward purchase agreement with Casa Grande Group to acquire its first industrial facility located at Mahindra World City, Chennai.
a-iTrust will provide funding for the development of the project as part of the forward purchase arrangement. However, the deal value has not been disclosed. The project is an industrial facility with a net leasable area of approximately 0.42 million square feet. The construction work for this project is ongoing and is expected to be completed by mid-2021.
According to a statement issued by the company, the project is fully pre-leased to Pegatron Technology India Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pegatron Corporation. Pegatron Corporation is a listed Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturer and a-iTrust proposes to fund the balance development of the project and subsequently acquire the asset.
Sanjeev Dasgupta, Chief Executive Officer of the trustee-manager said, “The proposed acquisition will add exposure to the industrial asset class and diversify our portfolio. The industrial segment has been resilient through the pandemic. The project also offers an opportunity to have a leading manufacturer like Pegatron within our tenant portfolio and support their expansion in India.”
Pursuant to the deal structure, a-iTrust shall provide funding towards the development of the project. Upon completion of the project and fulfilment of other key conditions, a-iTrust shall purchase 100% of the shares of the entity developing the project. Further, a-iTrust has the option to provide additional funding to develop industrial facilities of approximately 0.37 million square feet, subject to leasing milestones and other conditions being met.
