Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Brookfield India REIT have joined hands to acquire commercial properties in India, marking the first partnership between a listed real estate investment trust (REIT) and a global institutional investor in the country.

One of Asia’s largest sovereign wealth funds and the India-based REIT will snap up a couple of Grade-A assets, totalling 603,870 square metres at an aggregate enterprise value of $1.4 billion, from private real estate funds of New York-listed Brookfield Asset Management, according to a statement on Friday.

The acquisition will add a bundle of office campuses — Downtown Powai in Mumbai and Candor TechSpace in Gurugram — to the equal partnership. 

“This marks our first joint venture with a public REIT in India and will allow us to scale up our investments through this avenue,” said Goh Chin Kiong, Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Real Estate at GIC. “We look forward to adding value to the assets, which are well-located within key gateway cities,” he added. 

“Growing and diversifying our India REIT portfolio via accretive transactions is part of our long-term strategy. We are excited about the addition of market leading properties and the meaningful increase in size of the REIT. This unique partnership furthers our global partnership with GIC in India and reaffirms the quality of the portfolio we’ve built in the country,” said Ankur Gupta, managing partner and Head of Real Estate for Asia Pacific at Brookfield Asset Management. 

Following the transaction, Brookfield India REIT’s gross asset value and net asset value will rise up to $3.5 billion and $2 billion, respectively. The REIT’s total leasable space will also get a boost of 35% and its operating area will increase by 44%. 

Brookfield India REIT’s market capitalisation stands at Rs 9,100 crore as on 19 May.