Blackstone Group, the world's largest real estate owner, is preparing to launch India's first real estate investment trust in an IPO that could raise more than $600M.
If successful, the deal would be a milestone for India's commercial real estate industry, and a historic move on Blackstone's part. The private equity giant entered India's market about a decade ago when the country's government loosened foreign investment rules on real estate, making its first purchase in 2011. Since then, Blackstone has acquired nearly 30M SF in the country, quickly becoming one of its largest office landlords, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Blackstone's partner in this venture, Embassy Group, has already filed a REIT application with India's SEC board, a big move considering India just approved the REIT structure in 2014, and there are no REIT listings to date. [WSJ]
