Cognizant has put up its prime property, serving as its India headquarters for more than two decades, in Chennai for sale. The eventual sale of the property, comprising a 15-acre land parcel and four lakh sq ft office space on Chennai’s IT Corridor, could fetch the company at least Rs 750 crore to Rs 800 crore, according to real estate industry estimates.
The company has mandated international property advisory JLL to sell the prime property located at Okkiyam Thoraipakkam on OMR. The advisory firm has been talking to several prospective buyers including local developers – Baashyaam Group and Casagrand, the two names doing the rounds, but nothing has been finalised yet, sources said.Cognizant could not be reached for its comments. JLL declined to comment, saying the process is at a very premature stage. But market sources indicate that Cognizant would like to wind up the process and vacate the campus by December, 2024, after which its new India headquarters may function from the MEPZ campus near Tambaram on GST Road.
The move to sell this property is part of the company’s process to consolidate its operations in three of its own buildings at MEPZ, Sholinganallur and Siruseri. It has been giving up leased spaces across Chennai including prominent addresses at Ramanujan IT Park, DLF as well as St Mary’s Road offices in R A Puram.
The Thoraipakkam office has been Cognizant’s India headquarters for over 20 years and from where Lakshmi Narayanan and Chandrasekaran, the two professional co-founders of Cognizant operated from. It was from this campus, the landmark event -of Cognizant remotely ringing the Nasdaq opening bell – was held.
