Nexus Select Trust (NSEI:NXST), a retail real estate investment trust (REIT) backed by Blackstone, said it was open to acquiring more top-tier malls in India after announcing plans to buy three grade-A malls in Hyderabad for INR 10.00 billion. The three malls will be acquired from Larsen & Toubro Limited (BSE:500510) (L&T), a person aware of the development told Mint. Dalip Sehgal, Executive Director and Chief Executive at Nexus Select Trust, said in an interview, "It is difficult to name [the malls] since the permissions have not [yet] come in.

There are three malls - one million square feet in total." He added, "The acquisition will be distribution-per-unit accretive in FY26. It is strategic from our perspective because we already have a fairly good presence in Hyderabad with Nexus Hyderabad. So for us, there is a synergy benefit in terms of being able to manage it." An accretive acquisition one that increases the acquirer's earnings per share or distribution per unit.

Considering the low loan-to-value or LTV of 14%, the acquisition will be fully funded by debt without any equity dilution, the company said in its earnings presentation. "Hyderabad is a market that is growing quite rapidly. There's a very strong presence of IT firms, a lot of young people, and so on.

It's a market where we believe consumption growth will be significantly higher than in other metros," Sehgal said. He added that the company is keen to expand its footprint in the 14 markets in which it already operates, potentially through acquisitions. He also hinted at the possibility of exploring opportunities in eastern India.

"Of course, there are other deals in the making. Unfortunately, we can't tell you names, locations, etc, because none of these have fructified yet. Our strategy is essentially to look at grade-A assets.

There are 100-110 grade-A malls in India. These are typically owned by developers whose core business may not be running malls," he said.