By Art Patnaude
Blackstone Group LP has bought 16 industrial warehouses in the
U.K., the latest sign that the U.S. private-equity firm is using
its deep pockets to push into all corners of the European
real-estate market.
The firm, through its European logistics arm Logicor, paid
nearly GBP400 million ($607.3 million) for the properties,
according to a person familiar with the deal.
As industrial warehouses become more vital as retailers across
Europe shift to online delivery-focused business models,
real-estate investors have piled into the sector. Last year EUR24.9
billion ($26.8 billion) flowed into European industrial properties,
up from EUR19.3 billion in 2013, but still below the
pre-financial-crisis peak, according to data firm Real Capital
Analytics.
Blackstone formed Logicor in 2012 to buy industrial assets in
the region. Last year it scooped up more than EUR2 billion of
logistics properties.
"Logicor continues to expand," said Mo Barzegar, chief executive
officer and president of Logicor.
The U.K. warehouse deal "by Blackstone comes after notable
recent growth for our platform in Germany and Portugal, as well as
acquisitions in France and Spain as part of the GE portfolio
Blackstone agreed to acquire earlier this month," Mr. Barzegar
added.
Earlier this month Blackstone announced that, along with partner
Wells Fargo & Co., it was buying General Electric's $23 billion
portfolio of real-estate assets. In March, Blackstone said that in
less than four months it raised a record $14.5 billion to buy real
estate around the world.
This deal is Logicor's first U.K. deal since November. It bought
the 6 million square feet properties from U.K. private-equity firm
Oaktree Capital Management LP and real-estate investor Anglesea
Capital.
The properties in the portfolio are in markets close to urban
centers such as Birmingham, Leeds and Oxford. Tenants include
B&Q, The Co-Operative, and Debenhams.
Logicor now owns 21 million square feet of logistics assets in
the U.K.
Write to Art Patnaude at art.patnaude@wsj.com
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