NEW YORK — Blackstone (NYSE: BX) has announced that funds affiliated with Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI & VII have agreed to sell their wholly owned U.S. industrial platform, IndCor Properties, to affiliates of GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, for $8.1 billion.
As a result of this transaction, Chicago-based IndCor will no longer be pursuing an initial public offering (IPO).
IndCor owns and operates a portfolio of 117 million square feet of industrial properties throughout the United States. IndCor’s assets are principally located in desirable infill industrial markets such as Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, Houston, Denver Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
“We built IndCor through 18 acquisitions to be one of the largest industrial real estate companies in the United States,” says Tim Beaudin, CEO of IndCor Properties. “We are excited about the company’s future prospects under new long-term ownership with GIC.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015.
Eastdil Secured, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co., advised Blackstone in the transaction, along with Citigroup, Barclays and RBC Capital Markets.
Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and has more than $80 billion in investor capital under management as of this writing. Blackstone’s real estate portfolio includes hotel, office, retail, industrial and residential properties in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Blackstone real estate also operates one of the leading real estate finance platforms, including management of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT).
Blackstone’s stock price closed on Monday, Dec. 1 at $32.84 per share, up from $29.10 per share a year ago.
GIC is one of the world’s largest global real estate investors, owning more than $100 billion of real estate assets in more than 40 countries.
— John Nelson