Blackstone Said to Buy GE Apt. Portfolio

NEW YORK CITY-The Blackstone Group reportedly has agreed to buy a majority stake in a portfolio of apartment complexes from GE Capital in a deal valuing the portfolio at $2.7 billion. Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported that the private equity giant would put out close to $1 billion to buy GE’s stake in the 80-complex multifamily portfolio. A GE Capital spokesman tells GlobeSt.com the firm has no comment; calls to Blackstone for comment were not returned by deadline early Tuesday afternoon.

Previously, Blackstone’s focus in terms of residential real estate has been on single-family rentals. It’s now the nation’s largest property owner in that segment of rental housing. However, Blackstone reportedly was in talks to buy some or all of Archstone Inc. before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sold it to Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities earlier this year.