RMZ Corp inks JV with CPP Investments to build offices in Hyderabad, Chennai

CPP Investments is an investment management organisation, which manages the fund of the Canada Pension Plan.

Real estate developer RMZ Corp on Monday said it has inked a joint venture (JV) with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) to develop and hold commercial office spaces in Chennai and Hyderabad. As part of the deal, CPP Investments will invest Rs 1,500 crore, or around $210 million, which will allow for the development of 10.4 million sq ft (MSF) of high-quality commercial office properties.

“The partnership with CPP Investments, a globally respected institutional investor, will only strengthen our vision of achieving our hyper-growth strategy target of RMZ 2.0. The value of the partnership assets, once developed, is estimated to be over $1.5 billion,” said Manoj Menda, corporate chairman, RMZ Corp. As part of the JV, three sites – RMZ Nexity (Hyderabad), RMZ Spire (Hyderabad) and RMZ One Paramount (Chennai) — will be developed. All the sites are Grade-A developments. Of the total 10.4 MSF, 7.5 MSF is already under development with the construction of the remaining space due to commence in the coming months.

“With equity deals for assets over the last few months, we have ample headroom to achieve our next phase of growth,” said Arshdeep Sethi, director, RMZ Corp. In December last year, Bangalore-based RMZ Corp completed the sale of 12.5 MSF of real estate portfolio and co-working business to Brookfield for $2 billion. In January 2020, it entered into a JV with Mitsui Fudosan (Asia), a subsidiary of Tokyo-headquartered Mitsui Fudosan Co. The first development being undertaken is a 3.5 MSF project, RMZ Ecoworld 30 in Bangalore.

“As India continues to be a strong source of global talent, demand for collaborative and engaging workspace is expected to grow. Working alongside RMZ Corp, a pioneer in the commercial property industry, this joint venture is well placed to meet the growing demand for high-quality sustainable office assets in Chennai and Hyderabad,” CPP Investments managing director (real estate – India), Hari Krishna said.

CPP Investments is an investment management organisation, which manages the fund of the Canada Pension Plan. It makes investments globally in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. As of December 31, 2020, the fund totalled around $380 billion.