Flipkart Inks Largest Office Lease Deal With Realty Firm Embassy For Rs 300 Crore

Popular domestic e-tailer Flipkart on Sunday agreed to take 3 million sq ft of prime office space in Bangalore from realty firm Embassy group at an annual rent of Rs 300 crore. This is the largest office leasing deal.

In order to beef up support and technology operations, the Rs 300-crore deal is a part of Flipkart's expansion plans as the Bangalore-based firm will hire 12,000 people this year.

With an aim to take on rivals like Snapdeal and Amazon, Flipkart has chalked out an ambitious expansion plan to grab a lion's share of the estimated over $3 billion e-commerce market in India.

According to Anuj Puri, real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) India country head and chairman, "Flipkart has signed an irrevocable letter of intent with Embassy Group for leasing 3 million sq ft office space. The final agreement will be signed within 90 days."

JLL India helped Flipkart in securing the office space in the Silicon Valley of India. "It is the biggest single occupier leased transaction, in terms of space volume, in India which demonstrates the beginning of Indian real estate office market recovery," added Puri.

"The 3 million sq ft of office space will be leased to Flipkart in phases. We have won this transaction because of our reputation and experience of having dealings with large MNCs like Microsoft and IBM," said Jitu Virwani, Embassy Group chairman and managing director.

The rental will be around Rs 90 per sq ft per month for fully furnished office space, added Virwani.

As per Virwani, the office space located at Outer Ring Road, Bangalore is part of Embassy Group's commercial project 'Embassy Office Park' in joint venture with private equity firm Blackstone.

However, Flipkart declined to comment.

"This is the largest ever office leasing transaction in India. It has taken over a year of thorough due diligence and process led by JLL India. We are proud to partner with an Indian company that is leading the technology business in the country," said Juggy Marwaha, managing director, south India for JLL.

JLL had shortlisted over 10 developers and Embassy was selected after a long due and rigorous process, concluded Marwaha.
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