General Electric Company (GE) has sold a substantial part of its holdings in Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust), the first India-focussed property trust listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The company sold the stake to Ascendas Land Pte Ltd, a leading player in providing business space solutions for various sectors in the region, for an undisclosed amount. The transaction follows an earlier deal struck by both parties, in which GE agreed to dilute part of its stake in a-iTrust in favour of the Singapore-based company. Ascendas India Trust is mainly into the development of IT-related real estate properties; its portfolio includes four IT parks in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
According to analysts, GE?s decision to pare its stake in a-iTrust may be part of the MNC?s global strategy to focus more on its core business in the electrical and allied sectors, and reduce its exposure to non-core activities such as the volatile real estate sector. GE had earlier picked up a majority stake in the Chennai-based Indo Tech Transformers through its Mexican subsidiary Prolec GE International. An e-mail sent by FE to an Ascendas spokesperson did not evince any response.
Ascendas India Trust, in a regulatory filing with the Singapore Stock Exchange, on Monday, said that General Electric Capital Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric, has sold 52,000,000 shares or a 6.89% stake in a-iTrust to Ascendas Land International Pte Ltd, pursuant to a share purchase agreement signed by the two companies some time last week. Prior to the sale, GE, through its subsidiary, was holding 89,751,000 shares, or 11.88% of voting capital of a-iTrust. Following the sale, GE?s holding in a-iTrust has come down to 37,751,000 shares, representing 4.99% of the voting capital of the Singapore-based trust. JP Morgan acted as the sole financial advisor for the deal.
Ascendas is one of the leading business space developers for the IT and BPO sectors, with a portfolio of over 4.8 million sq ft space dedicated to IT infrastructure, and another 1.5 million sq ft under various stages of development. It has a land bank of another 24 acre, which it is planning to develop into business space the IT industry, as well as other sectors.
Its current assets include four up and running IT infrastructure projects–The V and CyberPearl in Hyderabad, International Techpark in Bangalore and International Techpark in Chennai. Major tenets of Ascendas include GE, Microsoft, Satyam, Computer Associates, Motorola, Cognizant, IBM and General Motors, among others.