BlackRock, Apollo Complete Mergers, Absorbing Combined $57B In Assets
Two of the globe’s largest money managers completed acquisitions to grow their real estate portfolios, as perceived market dislocation is leading to more consolidation across the sector.
Apollo Global Management completed a $1.5B deal to acquire and take private the multifamily and industrial firm Bridge Investment Group. Also on Monday, BlackRock completed the purchase of ElmTree Funds, a net lease giant with some $7.3B in assets under management, in a deal that was announced less than two months ago.
Apollo absorbed Bridge through an all-stock transaction at roughly $11.50 per share, a 34% premium on the stock’s price at the time of the offer in February. Bridge’s assets under management include $50B in real estate assets, with $22B in fee-paying assets.
The deal roughly doubles the real estate assets Apollo has under management to $110B. Apollo had $840B in total AUM at the end of June. Bridge Investment Group will continue to operate as a standalone business, and its executives and more than 300 staff will come to Apollo as part of the deal.
Bob Morse, executive chairman at Salt Lake City-based Bridge, is joining Apollo as a partner to lead the company’s real estate equity business.
“With Apollo’s support, we see significant opportunity to expand and diversify our investment verticals, enhance our capital formation capabilities and drive value for our investors,” Morse said in a statement.
BlackRock’s acquisition of ElmTree Funds for an undisclosed price has a similar structure, with ElmTree CEO James Koman staying atop the firm and the purchase contract including five years of performance incentives for ElmTree.
ElmTree, which has investments in 122 properties across 31 states, is being rolled into BlackRock’s private financing solutions platform, which it launched earlier this year through the acquisition of HPS Investment Partners, an alternative credit provider with $157B in assets under management.
ElmTree was founded in 2011 and has focused on developing build-to-suit industrial assets, which it will continue to do as part of BlackRock.
“Combining ElmTree’s expertise in the commercial net-lease sector with our leading capabilities and scale further augments our ability to provide diverse investment solutions for our clients,” Scott Kapnick, the former CEO of HPS Investment Partners who is leading BlackRock’s new private financing platform, said in a statement.
