Standard Chartered Bank's subsidiary leases one million sq ft in Chennai
Standard Chartered Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary Standard Chartered Global Business Services (GBS) has entered into an agreement to pick up over 1 million sq ft office space on a long-term lease in Chennai in one of the largest commercial real estate transactions so far this year, said two persons with direct knowledge of the development.
The company--erstwhile Scope International--is leasing this office space in realty developer DLF’s under-construction information technology park Downtown Taramani. Total tenure of the deal will be 10 years and the company is expected to pay lease rentals of over Rs 80 per sq ft a month taking the annual payout to nearly Rs 100 crore, making it one of the largest deals not only in terms of volume but also value.
“The letter of intent was signed recently as the terms of this transaction were finalised. While the deal is pre-commitment for an under-construction project, it is unlikely to be a built-to-suit given that it's part of a larger project,” said one of the persons quoted earlier.
The deal assumes significance not only due to its size but also because of the pre-commitment to the under-construction office space as against the usual practice of leasing ready properties. DLF Downtown Taramani, spread over 27 acres, is a joint venture with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO). Of the total nearly 7 million sq ft project, DLF has already started construction of 2.5 million sq ft of built-up area in the first phase and is expected to complete it by mid-2021. Standard Chartered GBS is leasing space in the first phase of the project. The entire project development is expected to be completed in six years.
ET’s separate email queries to Standard Chartered Bank and DLF remained unanswered till the time of going to press. Transaction advisor CBRE South Asia declined to comment for the story. As a subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, Standard Chartered GBS delivers transaction processing and value-added services for leading corporate and Institutional clients of the group, supporting multiple banking operation functions.
Started in 2001 in Chennai, Standard Chartered GBS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank UK Plc. It provides services to the bank’s business in over 70 markets globally including banking operations, technology support, risk and compliance process and software development, among others.