Blackstone raises $300M via stake sale in Embassy Office Parks REIT; stock trades in green

The block deal was carried at a discount of 4.47%, as the transaction value was at Rs341 per piece.

On Thursday, the Embassy Office Parks REIT stock was performing broadly in green after a massive block deal where its promoter Blackstone Group offloaded their 8.7% stake in the REIT. Through the stake sale, the global investment firm has raised a whopping $300 million (Rs2,270cr).

Jonathan Gray, chief operating officer, Blackstone told The Economic Times, “this transaction helps diversify institutional ownership and improve liquidity. Adding he said, “We remain the largest shareholder of Embassy REIT and are quite optimistic about its future.”

The block deal was carried at a discount of 4.47%, as the transaction value was at Rs341 per piece compared to the previous closing market price of Rs356.27 per piece on Sensex.

Embassy REIT’s became the first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) to launch its initial public offering (IPO) last year. It was launched by Embassy Group and Blackstone, where the latter placed 100% of its owned assets to the REITs portfolio. The REIT’s raised somewhat Rs5,000cr through the issue.

Under the block deal, existing investors like Capital Group, CI Funds and ICICI Prudential among others have taken part and increased their shareholding in the REIT.

Holding the largest shareholder title in the Embassy REIT still, Blackstone’s stake has now come down from the previous 55%.

At around 10.53 am, the REIT’s scrip was trading at Rs357.80 per piece up by 0.43% on Sensex.

The scrip opened at intraday low of Rs356.40 per piece but has managed to clock an intraday high of Rs361.20 per piece. 

Source: IndiaInfoline

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