Select Citywalk to be in Nexus REIT

Nexus Malls, the Indian retail portfolio arm of investment company Blackstone Group, and the
promoters of Delhi’s upscale mall, Select Citywalk, have finalised the terms for the mall’s
inclusion in an upcoming retail REIT planned by the Blackstone Group, according to two people
with knowledge of the development.
“The REIT will be called Nexus Select Trust, and promoters of Select Citywalk will get a
percentage share in the REIT. There will be no deal payment to the mall promoters; however,
they can exit at any time once the REIT is listed,” said one person involved in the deal. The
Select City mall will be valued by independent valuers and added to the REIT portfolio. The total
value of the REIT portfolio (including malls such as Blackstone-Nexus and Select City) will be
around $3 billion.
Select City alone could be valued between 4,000 and 4,500 crore. The company is expected
to file the DRHP by end of 2022 and out of the 12 million sq ft Select City operates about 10 msf
will be part of REIT.

“The mall is a trophy retail asset located amongst Delhi’s most affluent residential catchments.
With Select’s inclusion, the REIT also expands its footprint to Delhi. It has been in operation for
more than 14 years and, hence, is now stabilized, which will provide more stability to the Nexus
portfolio,” said another person quoted above.
Nexus didn’t have a mall in Delhi, and with the inclusion of Select Citywalk, which generates the
highest sales per square foot in the country, the Blackstone arm will have malls in all metros and
mini metros.
Select Group’s promoter has not added any malls to their portfolio in the 15 years that Select
Citywalk has been open and they want it to be part of a REIT, say people with knowledge of the
matter.
Blackstone declined to comment, while Arjun Sharma, one of the promoters of Select Group, did
not respond to the text message.
A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a publicly listed company that houses rent-generating
commercial, residential, or retail complexes.
There are three REITs for office space in the country but none that are dedicated REITs for retail
assets.
Select Citywalk was conceptualised by Yog Raj Arora, Neeraj Ghei and Arjun Sharma in 2003,
when they successfully bid at a DDA auction for the 15,884 square metre plot with a landscaped
plaza of 8,992 square meters.
Select Citywalk is operated by Select Infrastructure, a joint venture between the Select Group
and the Aarone Group.