a-iTrust – BT

a-iTrust buys India office space

ASCENDAS India Trust (a-iTrust) will buy 96,051 square feet of office space at India’s International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB) for 307.8 million rupees (S$10 million).

The space, now owned by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), will be leased back to TCS.

a-iTrust already owns 1.7 million-sq ft of space at ITPB through its Indian special-purpose vehicle International Technology Park Ltd (ITPL). Jonathan Yap, chief executive officer of the trustee-manager of a-iTrust, said: ‘As one of the four IT parks we own, ITPB has been delivering good and steady returns. Current occupancy is 100 per cent, and we continue to experience demand for space from existing and new clients.’

a-iTrust said that the office purchase is part of an agreement under which ITPL would construct and sell TCS a custom-built facility at ITPB, while TCS would, in return, sell office units at the park to ITPL.

The 515,000-sq ft custom-built facility has been completed and handed over to TCS.

The office space will be yield-accretive. The pro forma financial effect on a-iTrust’s distribution per unit (DPU) for the financial year ended March 31, 2008, is expected to be an additional 0.088 cents.

a-iTrust said the acquisition will be funded by drawing down an existing loan facility. a-iTrust’s gearing will be 5 per cent.

Upon completion of the acquisition, a-iTrust will own $1 billion of assets, comprising 4.8 million sq ft of income-producing space plus land for the development of 4.2 million sq ft of space.

Mr Yap said: ‘We will continue to focus on enhancing returns to unitholders through organic growth, developing land owned by a-iTrust, and acquisitions.’