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Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman is celebrating two decades of India investments
Blackstone has agreed to acquire a 40 percent stake in Indian builder Kolte-Patil Developers for INR 11.7 billion ($134 million), marking the first investment in residential real estate by the private equity titan in one of its favourite markets.
Funds managed by Blackstone will buy a 14.29 percent interest in Pune-based Kolte-Patil via a preferential share allotment and a 25.71 percent slice under a share purchase agreement, according to a Thursday stock filing. The stake’s size also triggers a mandatory “open offer” by Blackstone to acquire an additional 26 percent from Kolte-Patil’s existing shareholders.
Founded in 1991 by executive chairman Rajesh Patil, Kolte-Patil has developed 64 projects spanning more than 28 million square feet (2.6 million square metres) across Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Manhattan-based Blackstone is making its investment in the builder through its $8.2 billion BREP Asia III fund and its $30.6 billion BREP X global strategy.
Blackstone “will acquire and exercise joint control over the target company along with the existing promoters and be classified as a promoter of the target company” in accordance with regulations, the companies said in the filing. “The acquirer does not have an intention to delist the target company pursuant to this open offer.”
Infrastructure, Credit Opportunities
NYSE-listed Blackstone, one of the biggest investors in India’s office, retail and logistics segments, disclosed its latest property bet during a visit to the country this week by Stephen Schwarzman, the fund management giant’s co-founder, chairman and CEO.
Amit Dixit, Blackstone’s Asia head of private equity
In Mumbai to celebrate 20 years of Blackstone investments in India, Schwarzman hailed the nation as the world’s fastest-growing major economy and teased potential moves in the country’s infrastructure sector, as reported by the Business Standard.
“We have in-depth exposure to different types of infrastructure,” Schwarzman told local media. “And when we go ahead in that area, we would just be matching what we know with what’s needed here, and it’s also determined by deals.”
The Blackstone boss said the firm also plans to bring its $450 billion global credit business to India, according to an account on the Mint website.
Amit Dixit, Blackstone’s Asia head of private equity, told Mint that the firm’s success in India would likely help it find more investment opportunities and double its assets under management in the country over the next three years. Blackstone’s India AUM currently stands between $50 billion and $55 billion, Dixit said.
Office REIT Up Next
Blackstone last week filed a draft prospectus for its fourth India REIT, with the firm and co-sponsor Sattva Group seeking to raise INR 62 billion ($710 million) from the office trust’s initial public offering.
The prospective IPO of Knowledge Realty Trust follows Blackstone’s sponsorship of three previous India REITs, including Embassy Office Parks, which the firm exited in late 2023 for $853.5 million, as well as Mindspace Business Parks and the retail-focused Nexus Select Trust.
In December, India’s anti-trust regulator approved a plan for Blackstone to acquire a stake in Bengaluru developer Bagmane, which has 30 million square feet of operational business parks in the tech hub and another 5.3 million square feet under development.
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