Kolkata’s South City Mall on sale? One of India’s biggest landlords nearing ₹3,500 crore deal

The mall, owned by South City Projects, is located on Prince Anwar Shah Road and is the largest shopping mall in East India, according to its website. South City Projects is a joint venture of several real estate developers based in Kolkata.

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It hosts outlets of brands like Zara, Sephora and Marks & Spencer in addition to movie theatres and a gaming arena. It has a gross leasable area of about 800,000 square feet. With service areas and car parks, the mall is spread over 1.1 million square feet

Blackstone, which has deployed $20 billion in office space and hotels in India, is reportedly talking to financiers to arrange for funding for the transaction.

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The $1.1-trillion asset manager is looking to utilise consumer spending, which is responsible for nearly 60% of India’s gross domestic product. Blackstone has been investing in warehouses that capture the boom in e-commerce and the mall acquisition would extend that to brick-and-mortar stores.

If the deal is finalised, it would mark the first purchase of a retail mall by Blackstone in Kolkata.

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Blackstone was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter G Peterson and Stephen A Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers.

In India, Blackstone is also a sponsor of Nexus Select Trust, a real estate investment trust (REIT), which is the largest mall operator in the country.