After a year of negotiations, the ESR-Allianz Real Estate joint venture has called off plans to sell its warehousing platform in the country, said sources in the know.The equal JV is between Asia Pacific-focused logistics developer/ investor ESR and Allianz Real Estate, part of German group Allianz.
In the bidding process last year, the JV received bids from global investing giants such as Blackstone Group, Singaporean sovereign fund GIC, Gaw Capital, Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System, among others, for a majority stake in the platform, reports said.As per sources, the highest bid was for over $450 million. The name of the bidder could not be ascertained.Allianz was looking to sell its 50% stake and exiting the platform in India, while ESR was to sell a 10-20% stake and continue to operate the assets.
In 2022, ESR set up a joint venture with Singapore’s GIC to acquire income-producing industrial and logistics assets in the country, with an investment of $600 million. GIC has been quite active in Indian commercial properties recently. It is buying Waverock, a special economic zone in Hyderabad, for Rs 2,150 crore from SPREF II, a collaboration between Allianz Real Estate and Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which is reportedly exiting the investment.