*This is the first part of an eight-part series
covering the commercial and legal considerations of REIT listings
in India
Setting up a Real Estate Investment Trust
(REIT) involves a number of synchronised actions
by all parties to the REIT including the Sponsors, Sponsor Group,
Trustee, Manager, Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)
and their respective stakeholders.
Apart from settling the trust, one of the principal obligations
of the Sponsors includes contribution of the initial portfolio of
assets to the REIT (immediately preceding the closure of the public
issue). While the assets may be transferred through various means,
the favoured (and tax efficient) option is for the Sponsor to swap
its shares in the SPVs housing the portfolio assets in exchange for
REIT Units. Thus, the REIT becomes the shareholder and owner of the
assets, the Sponsors become Unitholders of the REIT and the REIT
Manager (which is typically controlled/ managed by the Sponsors),
is entrusted
