Indian developer RMZ sells real estate assets to Canada′s Brookfield for $2 billion

Privately held Indian developer RMZ Corp has sold 12.5 million square feet of its real estate assets to Brookfield Asset Management Inc for $2 billion, the Canadian asset manager said on Monday.

The deal, which was reported earlier by Bloomberg and The Hindu newspaper, includes divestment of RMZ′s co-working business CoWrks, a Brookfield spokeswoman confirmed in an email.

RMZ will have zero debt after the deal that involves its rent-yielding offices and co-working spaces. It will use the money to expand its portfolio. "The deal marks the largest-ever deal in the Indian real estate industry," RMZ said in a statement.

The company will divest a part of its core portfolio across Bangalore and Chennai, it said.

The commercial real estate asset portfolio of RMZ is valued at about $10 billion, according to The Hindu newspaper of India.

The deal involved a sale of 18% of RMZ′s commercial assets portfolio.

The development comes as large foreign investors are buying into the Indian office market in recent years. Bengaluru-based developer Prestige Group signed an agreement last week with Blackstone Group Inc to sell rental income assets for about $1.6 billion.