Blackstone Looks To Raise Record Amount for RE Fund
Blackstone hopes to beat its own fundraising record with the goal of securing $15B of equity for its new property fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII. The Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, which signed off on a $70M investment, announced the goal last week. When combined with borrowing, the new fund would have about $45B in purchasing power. The private equity behemoth is the largest PE real estate investor. Its last fund, BREP VII, raised $13.3B in 2012.
Blacksone has recently sold many of the assets it scooped up at deep discounts during the Great Recession and has simultaneously beefed up its prime property purchases. Bloomberg reported that its last three global property funds had an average 14.3% net return. About 60% of the fund will be invested in North American properties.
