SINGAPORE (July 11): The trustee-manager of Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) has entered into a construction funding and forward purchase agreement with a subsidiary of Arshiya, to develop an additional warehouse at the Arshiya Free Trade Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) in Panvel.
The warehouse has a total leasable area of 325,503 sq ft and will be acquired by a-iTrust upon completion and leasing.
The total construction funding is expected not to exceed INR 700 million ($13.7 million), while the total consideration for the transaction is estimated at INR 2.1 billion ($42.1 million).
Once acquired, the trust will lease the additional warehouse to a subsidiary company of Arshiya for six years under a master lease arrangement, whereby Arshiya will pay rent to a-iTrust to operate and manage the warehouse.
The decision to construct this additional warehouse is to accommodate incremental demand from existing and prospective tenants at the Panvel FTWZ.
The Panvel FTWZ is a 143 acre site with additional development potential of at least 2.8 million sf. In February last year, the trust acquired six operating warehouses there, which are already near full occupancy.
Currently, Some of Panvel FTWZ’s customers include DHL Logistics, Rolex Logistics and Huawei.
Along with the initial acquisition, a-iTrust also acquired the rights to extend construction funding and acquire future warehouses to be developed by Arshiya at Panvel FTWZ.
Sanjeev Dasgupta, CEO of the trustee-manager, says, “The proposed construction funding of the new warehouse, upon completion, will further enhance a-iTrust’s position in the fast-growing logistics sector in India. We are seeing increased tenant demand since our initial acquisition of the six operating warehouses at Panvel FTWZ."
