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Virtuous Retail South Asia (VRSA) has acquired Chandigarh-based North Country Mall from PE firm Sun Apollo / Gumberg for ₹700 crore.
With this acquisition, VRSA plans to strengthen its presence in North India. VRSA’s India retail portfolio now stands at 5.5 million sq. ft.
In November last year, Dutch pension fund asset manager APG Asset Management NV and Virtuous Retail (VR), the retail development arm of investment firm The Xander Group Inc, formed a joint venture to acquire retail assets. APG and Xander had committed an investment of $300 million that will be used to expand the portfolio through new acquisitions and developments.
The joint venture has integrated a 150-strong management and operational team in India, creating a new company called Virtuous Retail South Asia (VRSA).
Sid Yog, Chairman of the Board, VRSA, said: “North Country Mall offers an opportunity to reformat and reposition a well-built mall in a great location, into a community-centric VR flagship for the residents of Chandigarh, and into a regional lifestyle destination for residents of surrounding cities like Ludhiana and Jalandhar. The acquisition expands our footprint into North India”.
North Country Mall will add to its VR community centre platforms. Virtuous Retail has malls or community centre in Surat and Bengaluru, besides an upcoming two million sq ft VR Chennai mall. The Chennai mall is expected to be operational by fourth quarter in 2017.
Rohit George, Executive MD, VRSA, added, “This acquisition immediately adds one million sq.ft. of retail space to our existing leasable portfolio. This acquisition, combined with VR Chennai which is in final lease up stage, also enables VRSA to simultaneously offer retailers two new retail developments of scale, in key metropolitan markets, at a time when quality retail space is scarce.”
North Country Mall, located in the Chandigarh Capital Region, is one of the largest operating malls in Punjab.
VRSA will also invest in rebranding the mall as a VR flagship centre.
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