Blackstone Acquires Industrial Portfolio Spanning US, Europe for $2.8B

In the first transaction, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust acquired 102 properties in the U.S., totaling 15.2 million square feet. The logistics facilities are located in areas such as the Inland Empire in California, Eastern Pennsylvania, South Florida and New York. 

The second deal involved Blackstone’s European Core+ business and its affiliates purchasing 22 European industrial properties, totaling 2.2 million square feet. The properties are located in various parts of the United Kingdom as well as in Amsterdam and Düsseldorf, Germany.

Cabot had assembled the domestic portfolio over the course of 20 years, through 90 transactions, and it includes 24 development projects completed in the last five years, according to a prepared statement from Franz Colloredo-Mansfeld, Cabot’s chairman and CEO.

“The sale of our Value Fund V portfolio completes our most ambitious logistics property investment program over the past 20 years,” Colloredo-Mansfeld said. 

Blackstone began investing heavily in the industrial sector even before the COVID-19 pandemic turned it into real estate’s golden child, and has continued to do so over the past two years. In one recent deal, Blackstone picked up WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust for $3.1 billion.

“The logistics sector continues to benefit from strong tailwinds driven by e-commerce,” David Levine, a senior managing director in Blackstone’s real estate group, said in a statement. “These high-quality, stabilized assets are perfectly suited for our Core+ vehicles given their strong locations, stable cash flows and long-term growth potential.”

BofA Securities, CBRE (CBRE) and Eastdil Secured advised Cabot on the deals, with Goodwin Procter serving as legal counsel. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as legal counsel for Blackstone. 

Requests for comment were not immediately returned by any of the parties involved in the deals. 

Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com