Blackstone, M7 Partner on $1.4B Industrial Buy

A Hansteen industrial property in Alphen, the Netherlands.

LONDON—The Blackstone Group continues to expand its European industrial footprint in advance of a possible sale, partnering with M7 Real Estate Ltd. on Hansteen Holdings Plc’s portfolio in Germany and the Netherlands, a deal valued at €1.28 billion (US$1.38 billion). Separately, H.I.G. Capital LLC said Tuesday that it had sold a 2.8-million-square-foot portfolio of light industrial assets in the Netherlands to funds managed by Blackstone; terms were not disclosed.

Morgan Jones and Ian Watson, joint chief executives of London-based Hansteen, call the sale to Blackstone and M7 “a compelling opportunity to crystallize both the revaluation gains from these German and Dutch assets achieved by our active asset management and the gains from foreign exchange movements.” They say the value being realized is around 30% higher than the book value at the end of 2015; it also represents a premium of about 6% on the book value as of year-end 2016.