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The 4M SF portfolio includes warehouses, distribution centers and other industrial property, and supports Blackstone's effort to amass property in the U.S. and Europe that supports logistics operations, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the deal. Demand from e-commerce players and the need for last-mile distribution of goods has driven the industrial market in recent years, particularly in Southern California.
Principal Real Estate Investors became the sole owner of the properties involved in the deal in September when dividing up a 16M SF logistics portfolio it had jointly owned with Majestic Realty Co.
Blackstone has been an active buyer and seller of industrial properties as of late.
The world's largest real estate manager most recently reached an agreement to sell Logicor, its European logistics business, for $14.2B to Chinese Investment Corp., a deal expected to close before the end of the year. A year ago, Blackstone purchased a mostly West Coast industrial portfolio from LBA Realty LLC in Irvine.
Taking the Logicor and Principal transactions into account, Blackstone's industrial portfolio is around 150M SF in the U.S., Europe, Australia and China.
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