Mumbai, Aug. 7 -- Nexus Select Trust, India's only publicly listed retail real estate investment trust (REIT), has outlined plans to acquire eight retail assets as it expands into eastern India and reinforces its existing markets. The move forms part of a structured expansion strategy aimed at scaling the platform and broadening the portfolio.
The acquisition pipeline covers shopping centres in the capital cities of states including Bihar and Jharkhand, one asset in southern India and additional land and built-up space at two locations where the trust already operates in north India. Two of the proposed transactions are in due diligence. The trust is acquiring a 500,000 sq. ft shopping centre in Guwahati as part of a brownfield development where construction is advanced, and the project will include a 164-key hotel.
The trust reported an 11 per cent year-on-year increase in net operating income to Rs5.1 bn for the April-June quarter, which it attributed to robust consumption and leasing momentum. It declared a distribution of Rs3.7 bn, equivalent to Rs2.44 per unit, up 10 per cent from a year earlier and marking the twelfth consecutive quarter of a 100 per cent distribution payout to unitholders. Since listing in 2023, the trust has distributed more than Rs40.8 bn and delivered an internal rate of return of 25 per cent, providing financial headroom for acquisitions.
Nexus Select owns 19 shopping centres across 15 cities, along with three hotel assets with 450 keys and three office assets. The pipeline supports a target to double the portfolio by 2030 and follows the announced purchase of Diamond Plaza mall in Kolkata, which is expected to close in the first half of fiscal 2027. The trust has also partnered with Runwal Enterprises to develop a more than 700,000 sq. ft mall in Dombivli with total investment of more than Rs9 bn. Occupancy remains at 96 per cent and footfall, NOI and profitability have recovered.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.