Private equity firm Blackstone Group said it created the world’s largest real estate fund, amassing a total of US$20.5 billion to be invested in property assets around the world, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Blackstone said in a statement that the fund – named Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX (BREP IX) – has already made its first investment, which is the purchase of US industrial warehouse properties from Singapore-based logistics provider GLP for US$18.7 billion.
“Despite the challenging investment environment, we continue to see compelling opportunities around our highest conviction investment themes. BREP IX’s scale allows us to commit capital globally in a differentiated set of complex transactions,” Ken Caplan, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate, says in prepared remarks.
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager and one of the biggest property investors, with some US$153.6 billion in real estate assets under management.