Blackstone in record $18.7b deal

Blackstone Group LP is buying US industrial warehouse properties from Singapore-based logistics provider GLP for $18.7 billion, in what the companies billed as the largest private real estate transaction globally.

The deal by the world’s largest manager of alternative assets comes when investors are spending billions of dollars to snap up logistics assets as a surge in e-commerce activity spurs demand for delivery and warehouse services.

Blackstone said the overall transaction totaled 179 million square feet of urban logistics assets, nearly doubling the size of its US industrial footprint.

“Logistics is our highest conviction global investment theme today, and we look forward to building on our existing portfolio to meet the growing e-commerce demand,” said Ken Caplan, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate.

GLP had scaled up its US business over the past four years to become the second-largest logistics player after Prologis Inc.

Its clients include Amazon.com Inc, Walmart, Adidas AG and L’Oreal SA.

Stephanie Lau, senior analyst at Moody’s, said that GLP’s US assets were likely in locations where supply was constrained, making them more attractive, while high occupancy rates was another positive.

Property-related dealmaking activity has picked up globally in recent years, with $353 billion worth of transactions announced last year, according to data from Dealogic. Including the latest deal, Blackstone said it had acquired over 930 million square feet of logistics assets globally since 2010.

Blackstone will split the GLP assets between two funds, with its global opportunistic BREP strategy fund taking 115 million square feet for $13.4 billion and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) taking 64 million square feet for $5.3 billion.

Reuters