Daibiru Corporation, a subsidiary of the Japanese business conglomerate Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, has invested Rs 10 billion in an under-construction office complex in Gurugram. This complex is being developed by DLF in a joint venture with the global investment and development firm Hines, according to three people familiar with the deal. Hines, which holds a 33% stake in the joint venture, facilitated the exit of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) by bringing in Daibiru as an investor. Both companies have created Daibiru Hines Trust at GIFT City, Gujarat, and plan to invest in more commercial assets across the country.

"With robust growth and increasing transparency, India's real estate market is a bright spot for foreign investment. The underlying fundamentals of the Indian real estate market are likely to give investors the confidence to unlock greater value through acquisitions or securing a controlling stake through local subsidiaries," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO - India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines declined to comment, while Hines and ADIA did not respond to the email query.

Japanese institutional capital managers have been interested in Indian real estate for years and are now positively inclined towards committing capital, with most previous investments being in Bangalore and Mumbai. "A large Japanese institutional investor giving an exit to a sovereign fund investor, in a world-class commercial office project being developed by DLF and Hines, is unique in many ways and stands testimony to global investors? confidence in the maturity of both NCR and Indian real estate markets," said Anckur Srivasttava, chairman, GenReal Property Advisers (P) Ltd.

Daibiru owns and leases 31 properties that include offices, hotel buildings, and retail complexes in central Tokyo, Osaka, and Sapporo. It has also acquired overseas office buildings in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam in January 2012 and December 2014, and a new office building in Sydney, Australia, which was completed in 2020.

"We believe this trend of foreign real estate equity capital being deployed in India will only grow and continue to tap into the enormous real estate opportunity that India offers," Srivasttava said. DLF and Hines are developing this commercial project on 11.76 acres. DLF had in February 2018 emerged as the highest bidder for the land parcel that was auctioned by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) for a record Rs 14.96 billion. The project, called Atrium Place, is a 2.88 million-square-foot, Grade A+ office project in Gurugram. Spread across nearly 12 acres, the four-building project is expected to be completed by 2025.

"We expect investment activity to pick up pace, especially during the second half of 2024, as the global economic situation is set to improve, with a significant amount of unallocated capital available from investors due to the hectic exit activity witnessed in 2023," Magazine said.

(Source: ET)