The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), the largest pension fund in Canada, on Friday said it has exited its joint venture with India’s Phoenix Mills Ltd by selling its entire 49% stake in Island Star Mall Developers Pvt Ltd (ISMDPL), marking another liquidity event from its India portfolio.
Phoenix Mills and its affiliates will acquire the stake for about Rs 54.5 billion (C$871 million), the Canadian pension fund said in a statement. The transaction remains subject to closing adjustments.
ISMDPL was launched in 2017 as a retail-led, mixed-use development platform anchored by Phoenix MarketCity in Bengaluru. Over time, the platform expanded to include three additional assets, deepening CPP Investments’s exposure to India’s consumption-driven real estate market.
“The Indian retail sector has experienced consistent growth, driven largely by favourable demographics and the expanding middle class,” said Hari Krishna V, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate India, CPP Investments. “This investment generated strong returns for the CPP Fund.”
The exit is CPP’s latest move in a string of India-related portfolio rebalancing decisions. In FY2025, it offloaded a nearly 6% stake in Delhivery for C$298 million and partially exited the National Stock Exchange. At the same time, it ramped up exposure across sectors including infrastructure, renewables, and private equity.
CPP’s India book has swelled to over C$30 billion in net assets, accounting for roughly 4% of its global portfolio of C$714.4 billion as of March 31, 2025. The country remains one of CPP’s most significant emerging markets, with long-term investments across real estate, infrastructure, private equity, and credit.
The pension fund retains two other ongoing joint ventures with Phoenix Mills—a regional retail project in Kolkata and a mixed-use office asset in Mumbai, indicating that the relationship remains intact even as the flagship ISMDPL partnership winds down.
Asia Pacific now accounts for 17% of CPP’s global portfolio, with India playing a central role in its diversification strategy. CPP Investments’s broader deal activity in the region includes a 12% stake in AirTrunk, a data centre firm; and a $300-million commitment to Blackstone’s Asia buyout fund.
