The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has completed a second round of investing in its Indian-based joint strategic investment platform with the Phoenix Mills Ltd.
The $185 million round of financing brings the CPPIB’s total investment in the project to $328 million and a 49 per cent stake in the platform, which aims to develop, own and operate retail-led, mixed-used developments across India. The first round of financing took place in April 2017.
Read: CPPIB enters Indian retail real estate market
“The investment platform we’ve created with the Phoenix Mills Ltd. is executing well, and we are pleased to fund the second tranche of the commitment that will allow us to further expand our retail-focused investment platform,” said Andrea Orlandi, managing director and head of real estate investments for Europe at the CPPIB, in a news release.
“Through this platform, we have identified strategic assets over the last 12 months that will help us expand our retail portfolio in India, allowing CPPIB to participate in the growing retail sector in India.”
With this latest round of financing, the Phoenix Mills’ parent company Island Star Mall Developers Pvt. Ltd. will take on new developments and acquisition projects. Since the project began, Island Star has acquired land in Pune, a growing metropolitan area in India’s Maharashtra state.
Read: CPPIB announces $32M investment for retail development in India
“I am very excited with the progress that we have made along with CPPIB,” said Atul Ruia, joint managing director of Phoenix Mills. “In April 2017, when The Phoenix Mills Ltd. co-created the investment platform with CPPIB, we had envisaged to fully deploy the money within one year. Over the past 12 months, the investment platform has received support from PML and CPPIB to identify opportunities for deployment of these funds in key cities.”