$575 Million Loan to Blackstone for Industrial Portfolio Buy
By Carl Gaines July 24, 2012 7:45 am
reprintsGE Capital Real Estate has provided a $575 million loan to affiliates of a Blackstone (BX) real estate fund for its purchase of 66 U.S. industrial properties. The properties are located across 10 states in the south, mid-Atlantic and midwest and were bought from Australia’s Dexus Property Group.
Frank Cohen, a senior managing director at Blackstone, said that several factors put GE ahead in the race to fund the acquisition.
“There was significant interest in financing this transaction, but GE’s creative balance sheet approach and flexible deal structure was a perfect match for our business plan,” Mr. Cohen said. “They’ve been a responsive, experienced lender who can deliver on transactions like this.”
To his point, GECRE underwrote and closed the loan in under 45 days, according to an announcement it released about the transaction, which allowed Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII to pick up 129 buildings and a total of 16.4 million square feet.
A spokeswoman for GECRE told The Commercial Observer that executives were traveling and unavailable for comment. However, in a prepared statement, Alec Burger, president of the North America division, said that it had a previous working relationship with Blackstone. “Our team focused their expertise and efforts on this portfolio and delivered a structure that met Blackstone’s needs,” Mr. Burger added.
Blackstone has said that it will sell its U.S. office holdings, valued at $22 billion. Concurrently, as The Commercial Observer previously reported, the firm leased 31,000 square feet of space—the entire 48th floor—at Citadel Group’s 601 Lexington Avenue.
cgaines@observer.com
