Blackstone picking banks for US$1b India Reit: sources

[MUMBAI] Blackstone Group, the world's largest alternative asset manager, has picked banks for India's first real estate investment trust listing, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The US company and local partner Embassy Group selected firms including Bank of America Corp, Morgan Stanley, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd and JPMorgan Chase & Co, said the people. The Reit listing would raise about US$1 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Axis Bank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings and JM Financial have also been picked for the transaction, the people said. A representative for Blackstone declined to comment.

A successful deal could encourage new offerings from India's cash-starved property firms, which are still recovering from sweeping policy changes and struggling to access liquidity. The Blackstone Reit, which comprises properties that count Microsoft Corp and Rolls-Royce Holdings as tenants, would also be a crucial test after much-hyped infrastructure trusts failed to gain traction in the Indian market.

"A good debut for the Blackstone-Embassy issue could quicken potential offerings by the likes of Xander group, Brookfield, CPPIB and IIFL Holdings who are holding high-quality realty assets," said Amit Goenka, Mumbai-based managing director of Nisus Finance Services Ltd. "Even if only one-fourth of the high-grade, yield-generating commercial properties are moved into trusts, we will have a US$50 billion Reits market in India in a few years."

Mr Goenka was referring to the Xander Group Inc, Brookfield Asset Management Inc, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and IIFL Holdings Ltd.

Blackstone, the largest owner of office space in the county, will look to file the prospectus with the capital market regulator in August, one of the people said.

All the arrangers declined to comment.

The Reit will include properties from the Embassy Group joint venture as well as from Blackstone's own portfolio, the people said. Blackstone's real-estate unit has committed about US$5.2 billion across 30 investments in India, they said.

BLOOMBERG