Blackstone headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.

NEW YORK CITY—Blackstone is doubling its existing US industrial footprint, acquiring assets from three of GLP's US funds for $18.7 billion. The transaction totals 179 million square feet of urban, infill logistics assets.

Blackstone Real Estate's global opportunistic BREP strategy will acquire 115 million square feet for $13.4 billion and its income-oriented non-listed REIT, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT), will acquire 64 million square feet for $5.3 billion.

"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," says Ken Caplan, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate.

"GLP was able to leverage our deep operating expertise and global insights in the logistics sector within four years to build and grow an exceptional portfolio," says Alan Yang, chief investment officer of GLP. Even with this disposition, Yang says GLP is still looking forward to expanding its footprint in the US.

Based in Singapore, GLP is a global investment manager with $64 billion assets under management in real estate and private equity funds. Its real estate fund platform is one of the largest in the world, with 785 million square feet. In 2015, GLP entered the US real estate market and through acquisitions became the second-largest owner of logistics real estate assets in the country, with property across 36 major markets. Following the Blackstone deal, GLP has stated that it intends to remain invested long-term in the US across real estate, technology and credit.

Blackstone's real estate business has approximately $140 billion in investor capital under management. It is one of the leading owners of logistics properties today with assets in North America, Europe and Asia. In the US Blackstone built and sold Indcor and successfully replicated this strategy with Logicor in Europe. Inclusive of this transaction, Blackstone has acquired over 930 million square feet of logistics globally since 2010.

Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to GLP and Eastdil Secured LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as GLP's financial advisors. BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as financial advisors to Blackstone. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Eastdil Secured LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as Blackstone's financing advisor. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett served as legal counsel to Blackstone.

Instant Insights /

Blackstone Acquires Logistics Assets for $18.7B from GLP in Record Deal

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