Brookfield REIT’s ₹13,125 Cr Bet Resets Office Market

Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (BIRET) has signed binding agreements to acquire Ecoworld, a 7.7 million sq ft Grade-A office campus on Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road for ₹13,125 crore. The transaction is now India’s largest-ever office deal on a 100% acquisition basis, surpassing historic moves such as DLF–GIC’s ₹11,900 crore transaction (2017) and Blackstone’s ₹7,467 crore acquisition of Prestige commercial assets (2021).

So, what strategic advantage is Brookfield betting on with India’s biggest office acquisition?

A Bet on India’s Strongest Office Market

Ecoworld, spread across 48 acres, sits in one of India’s busiest commercial corridors — Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road. Originally developed by RMZ Corp, the asset is now a key part of Brookfield’s portfolio after several earlier acquisitions by Brookfield Asset Management in 2020.

The tenant mix is dominated by global capability centres (GCCs) and leading corporates such as Honeywell, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered, State Street, Shell, KPMG, Deloitte, and Cadence, a roster that strengthens occupancy stability and rental upside.

Demand from GCCs continues to hold strong: they accounted for 46% of Brookfield’s gross leasing in the most recent quarter.

Both Nishant Kabra (JLL) and Anuj Puri (Anarock) have called this the largest REIT acquisition in India to date, describing it as a sign of the REIT market entering a more mature phase.

How the Deal is Being Financed

To fund the ₹13,125 crore acquisition, Brookfield India REIT has laid out a structured three-part capital plan:

• ₹3,500 crore through new debt issuance
• ₹1,000 crore from preferential issue proceeds raised in Q2 FY26
• ₹2,500 crore from a new equity issuance

The seller, BSREP III New York FDI I (DIFC) Ltd, is part of the Brookfield group, which means this is a related-party transaction. However, it has been executed at arm’s length, guided by two independent valuations that place the asset’s average worth at ₹14,044.1 crore.

The deal has been structured at a 6.5% discount to its Gross Asset Value (GAV). With this pricing, BIRET expects the acquisition to be accretive, contributing roughly 1.7% to its pro-forma Net Asset Value (NAV) and delivering about a 3% uplift in pro-forma distribution per unit (DPU).

The Deal’s Impact on Brookfield’s Portfolio

Once completed, the acquisition will be transformative for Brookfield India REIT:

• Operating area expands 31% to 32.3 million sq ft
  
• Gross Asset Value rises 34–35% to around ₹53,600 crore
  
• Share of GCC tenants increases to 45% (from 37%)
  
• Top-10 tenant concentration falls to 30% (from 34%)
  

BIRET currently oversees a diversified portfolio of 10 Grade-A office assets spread across key business hubs, including Delhi, Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida, and Kolkata.

Together, the Brookfield India REIT portfolio adds up to 29.1 million sq ft of total leasable space. This includes 24.6 million sq ft of operational office space, 0.6 million sq ft under active development, and another 3.9 million sq ft earmarked for future expansion.

What Does This Mean for Brookfield’s Investors

Brookfield India REIT reported a solid financial performance in the latest quarter:

• NOI rose 13% YoY to ₹509.4 crore (from ₹451.2 crore)
• Lease rental income grew 12% YoY to ₹475.7 crore
• Overall leasing for the quarter stood at 592,000 sq ft
• Q2 FY26 distributions: ₹336 crore (₹5.25 per unit), up 14% YoY
• H1 FY26 distributions: ₹10.50 per unit, up 15.38% YoY

Another key structural shift: the share of dividends in the overall distribution mix is expected to rise from 16% to around 30%, making the REIT more attractive to income-driven investors.

Why It Matters for India’s REIT Market

Beyond headline size, the transaction illustrates several structural shifts.

• First, REITs are scaling faster through large, trophy-class acquisitions rather than piecemeal additions.
  
• Second, market participants are increasingly comfortable executing related-party transactions at arm’s length, backed by independent valuations and clear funding plans.
  
• Third, the reliance on a mix of debt and equity shows that REITs are leveraging capital markets to grow aggressively while balancing leverage.
  

Conclusion

Brookfield India REIT’s purchase of Ecoworld for ₹13,125 crore is more than a headline-grabbing transaction - it’s a structural milestone for India’s commercial real estate and REIT markets.

By adding a large, high-quality office campus in Bengaluru, Brookfield not only scales its franchise but also signals that Indian REITs are ready to act at an institutional scale.

For investors, the deal blends growth, diversification, and income potential, provided the financing and integration track smoothly. If they do, this may be the opening chapter of a more liquid, dynamic REIT ecosystem in India.

References

Business Standard
Economic Times
MoneyControl