The manager of Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) has entered into a forward purchase agreement to acquire two buildings, aVance 5 and 6, from Phoenix Infocity, the master developer of the aVance Business Hub in Hyderabad.

a-iTrust has also entered into a separate agreement with Phoenix to acquire five future buildings in aVance Business Hub 2, which is adjacent to aVance Business Hub.

The two buildings to be acquired in aVance Business Hub have a combined leasable area of 1.8 million square feet. aVance Business Hub, an information technology special economic zone, is located in Hyderabad's HITEC City. To date, a-iTrust has acquired four buildings in the project totalling 1.5 million sq ft.

aVance 6 is 98 per cent leased to Amazon. aVance 5 is under construction and should be ready by the second half of next year.

Both buildings will be acquired at a price that is not expected to exceed $270 million. They will be acquired together after the completion of aVance 5, subject to required leasing levels being met, among other conditions.

These include construction funding via inter-corporate deposits and debentures issued by Phoenix to a-iTrust and its affiliates for $177.3 million.

The addition of aVance 5 and 6 to a-iTrust's portfolio will raise it by 13 per cent to 16 million sq ft.

The acquisition of the five buildings in aVance Business Hub 2 will be done individually when each one is completed.