Knowledge Realty Trust: India's Largest REIT with Rs 60K cr Assets

New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) Sattva Group and Blackstone sponsored Knowledge Realty Trust has posted a net operating income of Rs 1,632.38 crore in the first half of this fiscal while its asset value stood at nearly Rs 60,000 crore at September-end 2024.

On Thursday, Knowledge Realty Trust (KRT) filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI to launch its REIT public issue for raising up to Rs 6,200 crore.

The company will issue units through Initial Public Offer (IPO) and list the REIT on stock exchanges as part of its strategy to monetise prime office assets across six major cities.

"We own and manage a high-quality office portfolio in India, and upon listing, we will be the largest office REIT in India based on Gross Asset Value of Rs 594,450 million as of September 30, 2024 as well as by Net Operating Income (NOI) for H1, FY25 of Rs 16,323.82 million, and the second largest by NOI for 2023-24 of Rs 28,820.83 million," KRT said in theHP.

The Trust said it will also be the second largest office REIT in Asia and one of the largest office REITs globally in terms of leasable area.

The KRT portfolio comprises 30 Grade A office assets totaling 48.1 million square feet as of September 30, 2024, with 37.1 million square feet of completed area, 2.8 million square feet of under construction area and 8.2 million square feet of future development area.

Bengaluru-based Sattva Group has 45 per cent shareholding in the KRT while global investment firm Blackstone has 55 per cent stake.

Both sponsors have decided to adopt a brand neutral strategy to grow the KRT portfolio inorganically through third party acquisitions.

At present, there are four listed REITs in India -- Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, Embassy Office Parks REIT, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, and Nexus Select Trust.

Apart from Nexus Select Trust, the other three REITs are backed by rent-yielding office assets. Nexus owns a large portfolio of retail real estate spaces.

The existing four REITs have a combined portfolio of over 126 million square feet of Grade A office and retail space across the country.

Since their inception, these REITs have collectively distributed over Rs 21,000 crore to unitholders. For Blackstone India Real Estate business, this will be the fifth public listing, including three listed REITs and one of Ventive Hospitality.

Bengaluru-based Sattva Developers has so far constructed 74 million square feet across 7 Indian cities in commercial, residential, co-living, co-working, hospitality, and data center sectors. An additional 75 million square feet area is in planning and implementation.