Blackstone reaches closure on £10bn opportunistic fund

Blackstone has closed its latest global real estate fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII, at $15.8bn (£10bn). The fund will make opportunistic investments across all regions. The capital has been raised predominantly from the private equity fund manager’s existing investors. BREP VIII has already committed 20% of the fund. Its existing deals include $3.3bn of US offices bought from GE Capital in April, and a $4bn deal for Strategic Hotels last month. Blackstone used debt to complete both deals. Jon Gray, Blackstone’s global head of real estate, said: “The size of this fund gives us the ability to commit capital in scale with speed and certainty.” Blackstone also manages the $8.2bn Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe IV and the $5bn Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia. david.hatcher@estatesgazette.com