Blackstone Buys $27bn Industrial Portfolio in Record Deal

In a major boost of confidence for the global industrial market, private equity giant Blackstone has added more than 16 million square metres of urban logistics assets to its American industrial footprint.

Blackstone spent US$18.7 billion ($A27 billion) acquiring the some-1300 property portfolio from Singapore’s GLP, outbidding NYSE-listed real estate company Prologis Inc. Prologis Inc is the largest owner of industrial assets in the United States.

The size of the deal demonstrates the strength of the e-commerce market as investors bet big on the longevity of online shopping and modern logistics.

Global disruptor Amazon is GLP’s largest tenant.

The acquisition nearly doubles the size of Blackstone’s American industrial portfolio and includes about US$8 billion of debt, which Blackstone plans to refinance.

Blackstone Real Estate global co-head Ken Caplan said that the logistics is the company’s “highest conviction global investment theme”.

“We look forward to building on our existing portfolio to meet the growing e-commerce demand.”

Blackstone has expanded its industrial portfolio by about 86 million square metres since 2010. The $26.9 billion deal is Blackstone’s third largest.

Back at home, Australia’s investors are equally bullish on logistics, with traditional developers joining the warehouse gold rush.

In some pockets, industrial land values have exploded by as much as 30 per cent year-on-year.