New Delhi, March 13 -- US-based alternative investment giant Blackstone, which has a portfolio of $50 billion in India across private equity and real assets, is picking up a 40% stake in Pune-based Kolte-Patil Developers Ltd for Rs 1,167 crore ($134 million).
The PE firm will pick up a 14.3% stake in the developer through a preferential allotment of equity shares for Rs 417 crore and buy another 25.7% from the company's promoters for Rs 750 crore, Kolte-Patil said in a stock-exchange filing.
Additionally, Blackstone will make an open offer to acquire about 26% in the company from public shareholders.
The transaction allows Blackstone to acquire joint control of the Pune-based developer and mark its foray into India's residential real estate segment. Blackstone is already the biggest owner of office properties in India and has also invested in other segments such as warehousing and shopping malls.
This announcement comes months after Blackstone last year moved to acquire a stake in Bengaluru-based developer Bagmane, VCCircle reported in November. In April last year, it joined a slew of institutional investors to pick up a significant minority stake in Mumbai-based Equinox India Developments Ltd, earlier known as Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd. In addition, the PE firm fully owns Nucleus Office Parks and has a logistics platform in India called Horizon Industrial Parks.
Blackstone is also taking public a real estate investment trust that it sponsors along with Bengaluru-based Sattva Group. The REIT, Knowledge Realty Trust, filed its draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India earlier this month to raise about Rs 6,200 crore.
This is the fourth REIT that Blackstone is taking public in India, after Embassy Office Parks REIT, Mindscape REIT and Nexus Select Trust. It has, however, fully exited Embassy and Mindspace REITs and partially exited Nexus. Overall, Blackstone has mopped up at least $2.8 billion from these exits, VCCircle reported last year.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.