VRSA buys North Country Mall for Rs 700 cr

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 2

Virtuous Retail South Asia (VRSA) today announced the acquisition of the 2 million sq ft North Country Mall from Sun Apollo and Gumberg for Rs 700 crore, including “paying down debt”.

A company statement said with this acquisition, the VRSA had established its presence in North India, adding to its existing portfolio of community-centric centers VR Surat and VR Bangalore, and the 2 million sq ft VR Chennai, slated to open in Q4 of 2017. North Country Mall, located in Mohali district, is one of the largest operating malls in Punjab.

Sid Yog, Chairman of the board, VRSA, said, “North Country Mall offers an exciting opportunity to reformat and reposition a well-built mall in a great location, into a community-centric VR flagship for residents of the Chandigarh capital region, and into a regional lifestyle destination for residents of surrounding cities like Ludhiana and Jalandhar.”

He said, “The acquisition expands the footprint into North India, has numerous portfolio synergies, and is value accretive to our stakeholders, including retail partners and investors.” Rohit George, Executive Managing Director, VRSA, said the acquisition had added 1 million sq ft of high-quality retail space to the existing leasable portfolio. “This acquisition, combined with VR Chennai, which is in final lease-up stage, also enables the VRSA to simultaneously offer retailers, two new and exciting retail developments of scale in key metropolitan markets at a time when quality retail space is scarce and the economy is poised to grow strongly,” he said.

The company said additional leasing and further development potential of 6,00,000 sq ft would see new retail brands, F&B formats and entertainment facilities added.

About the mall

• North Country Mall, one of the biggest malls in the northern region and one and a half times bigger than Elante Mall, is located on the busy Mohali-Kharar National Highway-21 at Desumajra village, close to Kharar. It was opened in May 2014.
• The mall, spread over 22 acres and having 20 lakh sq ft built-up area, has 250 shops and over 10 anchor stores, offering 35 per cent international brands along with national and regional brands, a banquet hall with a capacity of 2,000 persons, a parking area for 3,000 four-wheelers in two basements and a surface car parking.
• Having the tricity’s biggest nine-screen PVR multiplex, with a seating capacity of more than 1,800 people at a time, two screens at the mall are dedicated to “Gold Class”.
• The mall has become the biggest landmark of Mohali district after the cricket stadium.