Gray: "The current environment
provides a highly attractive
opportunity."

NEW YORK CITY-The Blackstone Group said Wednesday morning that it has closed its Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII fund at $13.3 billion, reportedly the largest opportunistic real estate fund on record. Blackstone launched the global fund in April 2011 with an initial target of $10 billion, according to PERE.

In a statement, Jonathan Gray, global head of the private equity giant’s real estate business, says, “We are extremely appreciative to our investors for their strong support of BREP VII. We believe the current environment provides a highly attractive opportunity to generate favorable returns for them. In addition, we think that the experience and global reach of our team uniquely positions us to capitalize on this opportunity.”

More than 250 investors globally have committed to the fund. Published reports in the Wall Street Journal and Reuters this past July counted China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange among them, with a reported $500-million investment. Also in July, GE Capital Real Estate said it provided $575 million to BREP VII affiliates to acquire a 16.4-million-square-foot industrial portfolio from Dexus Property Group.

The largest investor category in BREP VII is US public pension funds, according to Blackstone. PERE reported that the New Jersey Division of Investment and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System were among the early arrivals, helping enable the fund to raise $4 billion within four months of its launch. Blackstone says about 35% of BREP VII’s capital has already been committed or invested across a variety of asset classes. Its real estate unit currently manages $50 billion in equity as of Sept. 30.