Knowledge Realty Trust eyes acquisitions in India's top office markets
Knowledge Realty Trust, poised for its Indian market debut as an office REIT, plans portfolio expansion via ROFO and third-party acquisitions in top seven cities. Backed by Blackstone and Sattva Group, the REIT will leverage its listing for financial flexibility, including unit swaps for acquisitions.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
14 minutes ago
- India.com
India, Philippines Deepen Defence, Maritime, Space Cooperation: MEA
NEW DELHI: India and the Philippines have agreed to expand their growing defence partnership with a strong emphasis on defence industry collaboration, maritime security, and strategic cooperation across emerging domains such as space, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated on Tuesday. During a special press briefing on the occasion of the state visit of the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr, to India, the MEA Secretary (East), Periasamy Kumaran, stated that President Marcos had acknowledged India's cooperation in defence, particularly in the export of Indian defence platforms like the BrahMos missile system, and expressed interest in further strengthening cooperation in defence manufacturing. Discussions on joint military training through enhancing interoperability between the armed forces of both nations also took place, with potential for deeper engagement in joint defence production and technology sharing, as well as the broader export of Indian defence equipment to the Philippines. "President Marcos thanked the Prime Minister for cooperation in the area of the defence industry and the export of Indian platforms to India, including the Brahmos. He also called for greater cooperation in the area of the defence industry," Kumaran stated. "In addition, as part of our broader defence cooperation, we were talking about capacity building, joint exercises or joint cooperative maritime activities and the exchange of training programmes between our officials and all the standard elements that we talk about when it comes to defence cooperation... We talk about more opportunities for India to export our defence platforms... The Philippines certainly showed interest in working with us to explore opportunities for more defence platforms... We are also talking about enhanced cooperation between our coast guards aimed at sharing best practices and enhancing maritime domain awareness on both sides," he added. The MEA also highlighted that both sides recognise the Philippines' unique archipelagic defence needs and, in this context, Indian defence platforms, particularly those suited for coastal and maritime operations, are seen as a good fit for Manila's evolving defence doctrine. In the area of space cooperation, India showcased the cost-effectiveness and technological capabilities of its space programme, which the Philippines expressed strong interest in utilising to address national priorities, as well as called for India's assistance in launching its satellites and developing indigenous space capabilities. "The Philippines is a country of about 7,600 islands. Their defence concept is about archipelagic defence. Their defence doctrine and all the platforms that are of interest to them as part of this archipelagic defence concept would be of interest to them," the MEA Secretary East stated. "Space is another area. We did highlight our capabilities in space and the cost-effectiveness of our space programme... They wanted to try and use some of our space technology and space capabilities to effect social transformation in terms of helping predict weather events, helping with agriculture, and helping with disaster relief. Those are areas which are of interest naturally. We'll be talking in terms of helping with launching Philippine satellites and helping them develop satellites. All of these are on the table," he added. India and the Philippines, in a Joint Declaration on the "Establishment of a Strategic Partnership", following Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Philippines President Marcos' meeting, also underlined the importance of maritime security, where both countries reaffirmed their commitment to the sustainable and peaceful use of ocean resources. Both sides emphasised the importance of shipbuilding cooperation, joint hydrographic surveys, coastal surveillance, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and search and rescue operations. They also agreed to increase participation in multilateral maritime exercises such as the ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise, India's Exercise MILAN, and the Philippines' Maritime Cooperative Activities, the joint statement stated. The two countries agreed to collaborate in the co-development and co-production of defence equipment to achieve self-reliance in defence production. Cybersecurity was another key area of discussion, with both countries agreeing to deepen cooperation in the digital and cyber domains, including policy dialogue, cybersecurity capacity building, digital public infrastructure, and the protection of critical information infrastructure, as per the statement. On the broader security front, the joint statement reaffirmed the importance of continued engagement through institutional mechanisms like the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) and the Joint Defence Industry and Logistics Committee (JDILC). India and the Philippines also pledged to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation, with the joint working group on counter-terrorism continuing to focus on issues such as terror financing, organised crime, trafficking, and the misuse of emerging technologies.
Economic Times
33 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Legal tech startup August raises $7 million from New Enterprise Associates, Pear VC
Legal tech startup August has raised $7 million in a funding round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Pear VC. The company is building artificial intelligence (AI) tools specifically for midsize law firms. ADVERTISEMENT The round also saw participation from Afore Capital, several law schools, and angel investors, including Gokul Rajaram, and senior executives from companies like Ramp, OpenAI, and Bain Capital Ventures. Founded in 2023 by Rutvik Rau, Thomas Bueler-Faudree, and Joseph Parker, August offers modular AI agents designed to automate document-heavy legal work like contract reviews, due diligence, and discovery preparation. The platform caters specifically to midsize law firms, a segment the company estimates includes over 50,000 firms globally employing more than half a million lawyers. The New York-based company, previously known as Vecflow, has also been expanding into the Indian market. It is working with law firm Economic Laws Practice (ELP), where it claims to have helped cut due diligence time by 60%. August's tools are also being piloted by other law firms in the generic legal AI tools aimed at large global firms, August said its software is tailored to local legal environments, and its modular AI agents are designed to align with regional laws, disclosure norms, and document standards.'We realised that these midsize firms are actually extremely innovative, because they're trying to provide the best client services. Their clients are extremely cost-sensitive, and that creates the right environment to use AI and really reap the benefits. But at the same time, we saw that most existing players are focussed only on the big law segment,' CEO Rau told ET. ADVERTISEMENT August said its platform can be deployed securely within a firm's internal network to comply with data residency the new funding, August plans to expand its engineering, product, legal, and sales teams. It also aims to deepen its presence in markets like India, where midsize firms are looking to improve efficiency and manage costs through automation. ADVERTISEMENT 'We see tremendous potential in the midsize legal market, where firms are eager for innovation that drives meaningful ROI,' said Tiffany Luck, partner at NEA. 'August's AI platform and custom agents enable midsize firms to deliver exceptional client value and drive significant growth.'
News18
38 minutes ago
- News18
Knowledge Realty Trust REIT IPO fully subscribed on Day 1
Agency: PTI New Delhi, Aug 5 (PTI) The initial share sale of Knowledge Realty Trust, sponsored by realty firm Sattva Group and Blackstone, got fully subscribed on the first day of bidding on Tuesday and ended the day with 1.20 times subscription. The Rs 4,800-crore REIT initial public offering (IPO) received bids for 25,04,91,300 units against 20,84,20,800 units on offer, translating into 1.20 times subscription, as per NSE data. Institutional Investors category received 75 per cent subscription while other investors (such as corporates, and individuals investors/NRI and HUF) category was subscribed 1.75 times, as per the NSE data. Knowledge Realty Trust on Monday said it had garnered Rs 1,620 crore from anchor investors, including those from Amundi, Wells Capital, Jhunjhunwala Trust. Additionally, the company received a strategic allocation of Rs 1,200 crore from institutional investors. The IPO will conclude on August 7. The company has set a price band of Rs 95 to Rs 100 per unit. This IPO is entirely a fresh issuance of units by Knowledge Realty Trust. In early March, KRT filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi to launch an IPO and list the REIT on stock exchanges. This is part of a strategy to monetise its 30 prime office assets across major cities. Initially, the company planned to raise a total of Rs 6,200 through a public issue. In June, it raised Rs 1,400 crore from investors. Accordingly, the issue size has been reduced to Rs 4,800 crore. KRT is set to become India's largest REIT by gross asset value (around Rs 62,000 crore). Its net operating income stood at Rs 3,432 crore in the previous financial year. KRT owns over 46 million sq ft of office assets across 29 assets in six cities, primarily Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The assets include One BKC and One World Center in Mumbai, Knowledge City, and Knowledge Park in Hyderabad and Cessna Business Park and Sattva Softzone in Bengaluru. Blackstone and Sattva will continue to own about 80 per cent of the REIT. At present, there are four listed REITs (real estate investment trusts) in India — Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, Embassy Office Parks REIT, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, and Nexus Select Trust. Apart from Nexus Select Trust, the other three REITs are backed by rent-yielding office assets. Nexus owns a large portfolio of retail real estate spaces. Bengaluru-based Sattva Developers has so far constructed 74 million sq ft across seven Indian cities in commercial, residential, co-living, co-working, hospitality, and data centre sectors. An additional 75 million sq ft is in the planning and implementation stage. Blackstone, one of the leading global investment firms, has a huge exposure in the Indian real estate market. The two sponsors have decided to adopt a brand-neutral strategy to grow the KRT portfolio inorganically through third-party acquisitions. The existing four REITs have a combined portfolio of over 126 million sq ft of Grade A office and retail space across the country. Since their inception, these REITs have collectively distributed over Rs 21,000 crore to unitholders. PTI HG HVA view comments First Published: August 05, 2025, 22:30 IST News agency-feeds Knowledge Realty Trust REIT IPO fully subscribed on Day 1 Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
