NEW YORK CITY AND DALLAS — Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX, an affiliate of New York City-based global investment firm Blackstone (NYSE: BX), has agreed to acquire Colony Industrial, the Dallas-based industrial arm of Colony Capital Inc. (NYSE: CLNY). The deal is valued at approximately $5.9 billion.
Terms of the deal call for Blackstone to purchase Colony Capital’s logistics portfolio, which consists of approximately 60 million square feet across 465 light industrial buildings in 26 U.S. markets. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter.
The sale also includes Colony’s 51 percent ownership interest in a 4 million-square-foot portfolio of distribution assets and the affiliated operating platform that manages those properties.
“This acquisition of high-quality warehouses demonstrates our continued strong conviction in logistics and positive e-commerce trends,” says Nadeem Meghji, head of real estate Americas at Blackstone. “As retailers continue to shorten delivery times and expand their last-mile footprints, we believe warehouses in dense population centers will continue to experience outsized demand growth.”
Willkie Farr & Gallagher served as legal counsel; Morgan Stanley and Eastdil Secured served as financial advisors; and CBRE National Partners served as real estate advisor to Colony Capital. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett served as legal counsel to Blackstone.
Colony Industrial was formed in 2014 through Colony Capital’s acquisition of Cobalt Capital Partners. The company’s stock price opened at $6 per share on Monday, Sept. 30, down from $6.19 a year ago. Blackstone’s stock price opened at $50.13 per share on Monday, Sept. 30, up from $38.40 per share a year ago.
— Taylor Williams