US asset management giant Blackstone has announced the final close of its latest global real estate fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII (BREP VIII), at $15.8 bn (鈧�14 bn).
US asset management giant Blackstone has announced the final close of its latest global real estate fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII (BREP VIII), at $15.8 bn (鈧�14 bn).
Blackstone currently manages two regional opportunistic real estate funds, the $8.2 bn Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe IV and the $5 bn Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia.
The group's previous fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII raised $13.4 bn in 2012.
'The size of this fund gives us the ability to commit capital in scale with speed and certainty,' said Jon Gray, Blackstone鈥檚 global head of real estate.
Kathleen McCarthy, the global chief operating officer of Blackstone鈥檚 real estate group, added: 'This fundraise reflects the strong relationship we鈥檝e had with our limited partners for more than two decades. The fund is already 20% committed and we continue to see compelling opportunities to deploy capital.'
Substantially all of the capital in the fund comes from investors that had previously participated in Blackstone鈥檚 real estate funds, the company said in a statement.
Among the fund鈥檚 initial investments are the 鈧�20 bn purchase carried out in April jointly with Wells Fargo of the bulk of GE Capital's real estate as well as the acquisition of Strategic Hotels, a publicly traded real estate investment trust.
