Date:21/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/12/21/stories/2004122102640500.htm

Back Singapore firm buys Vanenburg IT park

Our Bureau

"We continue to look for more acquisitions to beef up our property portfolio in this fast-growing market," Ms Chong Siak Ching, Ascendas President, said.

Hyderabad , Dec. 20

ASCENDAS, the Singapore-based infrastructure developer, has acquired Vanenburg IT Park Ltd in Hyderabad. This acquisition will be the second project for the Singapore firm in Andhra Pradesh. The first is the Phase-I of Cyber Pearl in Hitec City, which it developed.

Ascendas Pte Ltd, a developer of IT Parks in India, and Dutch technology firmVanenburg Group announced on Monday that Ascendas has signed up to acquire Vanenburg IT Park Pvt Ltd from the Vanenburg Group.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. However, details were not disclosed. The four-year old Vanenburg IT Park, spread across 20 acres, has three multi-tenanted buildings with gross floor area of 850,000 sq ft having 95 per cent occupancy. About 7,000 employees work in the campus that hosts Cognizant, Computer Associates, SSA Global, Motorola and market research companyTNS. The master plan of the park allows for a fourth building which is in the process of development. Ernst & Young were the advisers in managing the transaction.

The President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascendas, Ms Chong Siak Ching, in a statement said "Vanenburg Park fits well with our overall strategy to grow a strong presence in Hyderabad, having completed Phase 1 of Cyber Pearl. Our flagship in India, the International Tech Park Bangalore in Karnataka, is recognised for quality IT parks in India. In Tamil Nadu, we aim to further raise the bar with our IT Park project in Chennai, the first phase of which is scheduled for completion in May next year. We continue to look for more acquisitions to beef up our property portfolio in this fast-growing market."

The Chairman of Vanenburg Group, Mr Jan Baan, in a statement said, "The deal would enable us to focus on our core business of building and selling enterprise software products."

Ascendas India has also announced the appointment of Mr Pang Yee Ean as the new Head of Hyderabad operations with effect from November 1. He will concurrently take charge of the newly acquired Vanenburg IT Park. Mr Pang was previously CEO of Abecha Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of JTC Corporation.