Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Pte. Ltd., the Trustee-Manager of Ascendas India Trust (“a-iTrust” has entered into a forward purchase agreement with the Casa Grande Group (the “Transaction”) to acquire two industrial assets (“Casa Grande – Phase 2” or the “Phase 2 Project”) located at Mahindra World City, Chennai. a-iTrust will also provide funding for the development of the Phase 2 Project as part of the forward purchase arrangement.
This is in addition to the earlier forward purchase transaction announced on 5 March 2021 for a
0.42 million square feet (sqft) fully leased industrial facility (“Casa Grande – Phase 1”) within the same micro-market. The acquisition of Casa Grande – Phase 1 was completed on 27 May 2022.
The Phase 2 Project consists of two industrial facilities with net leasable area totaling 0.31 million sqft. a-iTrust proposes to fund the development of the Phase 2 Project and subsequently acquire both facilities. The construction of Casa Grande – Phase 2 is expected to be completed by the second half of 2023 and acquisition will be completed after a stabilisation period of 12 months for leasing.
Sanjeev Dasgupta, Chief Executive Officer of the Trustee-Manager said, “The full leasing of Casa Grande – Phase 1 validates our assessment of the demand for industrial assets in this location. The proposed Casa Grande – Phase 2 acquisition provides an opportunity to increase exposure to the industrial sector and expand our presence in Mahindra World City, a prime industrial corridor in Chennai.”