Blackstone's Property Drawdown Fund Secures $30.4 Billion Funding

Private equity firm Blackstone has closed on its largest global property drawdown fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners X, which is aimed at targeting opportunistic deals across sectors like rental housing, hospitality and data centres. 

The fund has secured a total capital commitment of $30.4 billion, according to media reports, making it the largest fund of its kind.

Over the past year, the real estate market globally has come under pressure due to a pullback across commercial-property lending, as borrowing costs soared. Meanwhile, the stocks of several public real estate investment trusts have also suffered amid market uncertainty and increasing concerns about certain property types, such as offices.

"Pullback with all forms of capital will create opportunities," said Kathleen McCarthy, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate. "We can use our capital and expertise to capitalise on the moment for our investors."

Blackstone's real estate business, which started in 1991, now has $326 billion of investor capital under management.

One of the company's real estate vehicles, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust which caters to wealthy individuals, has faced a rough few months due to heightened withdrawal requests.

The firm began to raise money for the large property drawdown fund last year. Three of its strategies - global, Asia and Europe - now have a total of $50 billion in capital commitments, the firm said. Blackstone Real Estate's portfolio is about 80 per cent concentrated in properties such as logistics, rental housing, hospitality, lab offices and data centres.

Blackstone's global co-head of real estate, Ken Caplan, said that the company sees "an attractive opportunity to invest in a broad range of real estate sectors and asset types, including logistics, life sciences, residential, hospitality and data centres and to capitalise on the global recovery in the post-COVID period." Caplan also stated that Blackstone intends to use the fund to invest in new technologies such as electric vehicles and green infrastructure.

The global PE major has reportedly invested half of its Asia exposure in India, which signals its bullish approach for prospects in the country. With investments worth $50 billion in India with over $1 trillion assets under management, it continues to scout for further investment opportunities across infrastructure and real estate sectors.