Cabot Properties Sells Logistics Portfolio to Blackstone for $2.8 Billion
Blackstone (NYSE: BX) and Cabot Properties Inc., a leading investor, developer and operator of logistics properties throughout the United States, Europe and Australia, today announced that two vehicles affiliated with Blackstone Real Estate have acquired $2.8 billion of institutional-quality logistics assets in two separate transactions.
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. ("BREIT") acquired the U.S. portfolio, which comprises 102 properties totaling 15.2 million square feet located in many of the strongest logistics markets including the Inland Empire, California; Eastern Pennsylvania; South Florida; and the New York Metropolitan Area. In a separate transaction, Blackstone's European Core+ business and its affiliates acquired the remaining European properties. These assets comprise 22 properties totaling 2.2 million square feet of prime industrial space across Europe's most in-demand markets including the Midlands, North West and South East in the U.K.; Amsterdam in the Netherlands; and Düsseldorf in Germany.
"The sale of our Value Fund V portfolio completes our most ambitious logistics property investment program over the past 20 years," said Franz Colloredo-Mansfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cabot. "This portfolio was created through 90 transactions, including 24 development projects throughout the U.S., U.K and Europe completed over the past five years. We are pleased to have now completed approximately $5 billion in three transactions with Blackstone Real Estate over the past four years."
Value Fund V was launched in 2016 and is part of Cabot's flagship fund series that focuses on creating diversified industrial portfolios that generate strong cash flow and result in long-term value creation. Value Fund V was created through single and smaller transactions, including ground-up developments, with a focus on critical last-mile locations. The portfolio's average vintage is less than 15 years and is leased to a diverse collection of tenants, including leading eCommerce companies.
Pat Ryan, Chief Investment Officer for Cabot's Value-Add strategy, stated, "We attracted strong interest from the world's leading investors, reflecting the high quality of the portfolio and the rising demand for purpose-built industrial assets to address critical challenges facing supply chains in major markets across the world. Our proven investment strategy is designed to meet the growing tenant demand for this type of space."
David Levine, Senior Managing Director in Blackstone Real Estate, said, "The logistics sector continues to benefit from strong tailwinds driven by e-commerce. We are excited to expand our relationship with Cabot and continue to grow our global logistics portfolio. 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 and Eastdil Secured served as exclusive advisors to Cabot. Goodwin Procter served as legal counsel to Cabot. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel to Blackstone.
About Cabot Properties Inc.
Cabot Properties is an international private equity real estate firm focused on the logistics sector. Founded in 1986, Cabot was one of the first real estate firms to provide institutional investors with access to the industrial property sector and has invested over $13 billion in logistics real estate, served over 4,000 tenants, and operated over 1,500 buildings totaling more than 200 million square feet. Cabot is headquartered in Boston with offices in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam and Sydney. For more information, visit www.cabotprop.com.
About Blackstone Real Estate
Blackstone is a global leader in real estate investing. Blackstone's real estate business was founded in 1991 and has $230 billion of investor capital under management. Blackstone is the largest owner of commercial real estate globally, owning and operating assets across every major geography and sector, including logistics, multifamily and single family housing, office, hospitality and retail. Our opportunistic funds seek to acquire undermanaged, well-located assets across the world. Blackstone's Core+ strategy comprises open-ended funds that invest in substantially stabilized real estate assets globally and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT), a non-listed REIT that invests in U.S. income-generating assets. Blackstone Real Estate also operates one of the leading global real estate debt businesses, providing comprehensive financing solutions across the capital structure and risk spectrum, including management of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT).
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