Blackstone is closing in on its latest off-market mega-deal, a €3bn (£2.1bn) pan-European portfolio.
The US private equity giant is buying the assets from Norwegian fund manager Obligo Investment Management in what will be its first major push into Scandinavia.
The portfolio has a broad geographical spread with the concentration of assets in Norway, Sweden and Germany as well as elements in Denmark, France, Latvia and the UK. It also includes a small number of properties in the US.
Around a third of the portfolio is made up of logistics assets
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Blackstone is building up its European logistics platform, Logicor, in preparation for an exit through a sale or initial public offering, which is expected to happen next year. Including deals it is presently negotiating, Logicor has more than 100m sq ft of assets in 12 countries.
Cash-rich investors such as private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds are increasingly focusing on buying platform businesses and listed firms as they look to deploy capital in large chunks, as opposed to buying single assets.
This week Chinese conglomerate Fosun, for example, confirmed it had agreed a deal with Resolution Property Investment Management for the fund manager to be its exclusive partner on value-add deals in Europe.
It is understood that as part of the Obligo purchase Blackstone will take on large elements of its real estate platform, which manages the various funds that the assets it is buying sit within. Obligo is headquartered in Oslo but also has a regional presence in Sweden, the UK, the US and continental Europe.
In total, the Norwegian firm manages £4bn of real estate assets, half of which are residential, 24% are offices with the remainder retail, industrial, nursing homes and hotels.
The firm is owned by Oslo Stock Exchange-listed investment manager Agasti Holding and also manages shipping, private equity and infrastructure investments.
The latest purchase follows Blackstone’s and Wells Fargo’s £15.7bn deal in April to buy the majority of GE Capital’s real estate holdings across the globe. That saw Blackstone’s BREP Europe IV fund take on €1.9bn of European assets.
All parties declined to comment.
david.hatcher@estatesgazette.com
