Large Platform Events | Issue 24.17

 

Summary of Transaction Headlines

PERE | “Blackstone Reaches $7.6 Billion in Equity for BREP Europe VII”

Blackstone has amassed $7.6 Billion in commitments for its seventh opportunistic real estate fund in Europe, a little over a year after launching the fund. The firm raised $2.2 Billion for Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe VII in Q1 2024, according to the New York-headquartered manager’s latest earnings results. The latest equity haul for the fund followed a close of $1 Billion in Q4 2023 and $3.2 Billion in Q3 2023.

IREI | “KKR to Acquire $1.64 Billion Student Housing Portfolio from BREIT”

KKR has plans to acquire 19 purpose-built student housing properties from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) for $1.64 Billion. The more than 10,000-bed portfolio is comprised of 19 purpose-built, premium student housing assets anchored to 14 leading four-year public universities across 10 states. The communities feature a wide range of best-in-class amenities, and the majority are located with easy pedestrian access to campus. BREIT acquired the portfolio in 2018 in a joint venture with Greystar Real Estate Partners.

IREI | “ACORE Capital Closes Oversubscribed $1.4 Billion Commercial Real Estate Debt Fund”

ACORE Capital has held a final close of ACORE Credit Partners II (ACP II), which was oversubscribed with total equity commitments of approximately $1.4 Billion. ACP II is the latest and largest in ACORE’s flagship series of commercial real estate credit funds focused on originating and managing transitional debt investments in the United States. ACP II received capital commitments from a diverse group of global institutional investors, including U.S. pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, insurance companies, and family offices, reflecting the strong global demand for ACORE’s real estate credit strategy. 

BNN Bloomberg | “Blackstone Sells $1.1 Billion of Private Equity Fund Stakes to Ares”

Blackstone Inc.’s Strategic Partners unit sold a $1.1 Billion portfolio of private equity fund interests to Ares Management Corp. The portfolio consists of older fund stakes that Strategic Partners had acquired from institutional sellers, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified and discussing confidential information. This is the largest private equity deal completed by Ares’ secondary group. PJT Partners Inc. advised on the transaction, the people said.

Property Week | “Watkin Jones Appoints New CFO and Updates on First Half”

Watkin Jones has announced Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sarah Sergeant will step down from the Board in mid-June. Simon Jones has been appointed to succeed Sergeant as CFO designate and will join the board on 21 May. Most recently, Jones was CFO at the US majority-owned Mapeley Group, a property outsourcing specialist. Before this, he held several senior finance roles within groups including Bass (now IHG Group), Hilton, and Whitbread.

Property Week | “Greenland Steps Down as Chief Executive of PLP”

Logistics and industrial property firm PLP has announced that its current Chief Executive, Jeremy Greenland, has decided to step down from his role. The company’s Board of Directors has appointed Chief Investment Officer Neil Dickinson to lead the business going forward. Both Greenland and Dickinson joined the company in 2016 after PLP merged with Evander Properties.