Phoenix Mills & CPP Investments JV to Develop Kolkata Mall

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Mall developer Phoenix Mills Ltd (PML) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) have signed definitive documents for a new joint venture to develop a shopping mall in Kolkata’s upscale Alipore area. CPP Investments said it will commit to investing about ?560 crore in Mindstone Mall Developers Pvt Ltd in tranches, for an ultimate equity stake of 49%. With the funds invested by CPP Investments and PML, Mindstone will develop a retail centre with a potential leasable area of a million sq ft. The target completion date is for the second half of 2024. "We are pleased to grow our strategic relationship with CPP Investments to establish our footprint in Eastern India. This investment bears testament to the attractive long-term prospects of our robust business model of creating destination consumption hubs in key cities of India. With this asset, we are well on track to more than double our operational retail portfolio by 2024. We remain focused on expanding our portfolio by investing in attractive markets and ensuring timely execution of the projects," said Atul Ruia, chairman, Phoenix Mills. In February, PML said its subsidiary Mindstone Mall Developers has a 7.48 acre land parcel in Diamond Harbour Road, Alipore for ?300 crore. The land belonged to Linde India, an industrial gases and engineering company. "Alipore, Kolkata is a premium neighbourhood and the site is strategically located, surrounded by a dense catchment of residential and office space. We believe that the site's proximity to established and developing micro-markets, through extensive and well-developed civic infrastructure, provides us with ample opportunity to cater to the region's significant untapped consumption potential. We see this will be a mall for the city of Kolkata and a dominant consumption hub for the state of West Bengal," said Shishir Shrivastava, managing director, PML. Hari Krishna, MD, real estate – India, CPP Investments said, “We are pleased to further expand our relationship with Phoenix Mills to develop and own a premium retail centre in an underserved market. With this investment, CPP Investments' equity commitment to multiple ventures with Phoenix Mills amounts to over ?26.2 billion ( ?2620 crore). India is one of the most important markets for us in Asia Pacific and a critical part of our long-term strategy." PML and CPP Investments said they are also extending their commitments to their existing joint venture, Island Star Mall Developers Pvt Ltd. Both have agreed to invest collectively up to ?800 crore into Island Star in tranches as required, in the ratio of their respective shareholdings. The joint venture was formed in 2017 to develop, own and operate retail-led, mixed-use developments across India. Phoenix Marketcity in Whitefield Bangalore served as the seed asset for the alliance. In addition, Island Star owns and is currently developing three retail-led, mixed-use developments at Wakad Pune, Bengaluru’s Hebbal and Indore.