Investor Blackstone defies global property woes with new $30bn fund

Kathleen McCarthy is co-head of Blackstone Real Estate. Photo: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg

Natalie Wong

Blackstone has closed on its largest global property drawdown fund, targeting opportunistic deals across sectors such as rental housing, hospitality and data centres.

The company secured $30.4bn (€29bn) of total capital commitments for the fund, called Blackstone Real Estate Partners X, according to a statement.

The real estate market has come under pressure over the past year due to a pullback across commercial-property lending, as borrowing costs skyrocketed. At the same time, the stocks of public real estate investment trusts have also suffered amid the uncertainty in the market and increasing concerns about certain property types such as offices.

“Pullback with all forms of capital will create opportunities,” said Kathleen McCarthy, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate.

“We can use our capital and expertise to capitalise on the moment for our investors.”

Blackstone said its latest property drawdown fund is the largest ever raised, helping cement the private equity firm’s status as a powerhouse in the real estate market. Blackstone’s real estate business, which started in 1991, now has $326bn of investor capital under management.

One of Blackstone’s real estate vehicles has faced a rougher past few months. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, which caters to wealthy individuals, has been facing heightened withdrawal requests recently.

The firm started to raise money for the large property drawdown fund last year. Three of its strategies – global, Asia and Europe – now have a total of $50bn in capital commitments, the firm said.

Blackstone Real Estate’s portfolio is about 80pc concentrated in properties such as logistics, rental housing, hospitality, lab offices and data centres.