Blackstone acquires Charter Hall industrial portfolio

The New York-based real estate giant acquired the four industrial assets for A$126m reflecting a 6.98% cap rate.

Blackstone, the New York-listed real estate investment manager, has invested A$126 million ($94 million; €89 million) in a portfolio of Australian industrial assets.

The firm acquired the four properties from Sydney-listed real estate fund manager Charter Hall Group. Among the four assets, three are owned by Charter Hall’s Prime Industrial Fund (CPIF) and one asset is owned by the Core Logistics Partnership (CLP). The price reflects a premium above book value and an equated capitalization rate of 6.98 percent.

This transaction will see the capital redeployed into strategic acquisitions and Charter Hall’s development pipeline, which has the capacity to provide Charter Hall’s industrial team a further A$1.3 billion in funds under management or nearly 1 million square feet of gross lettable area, according to Charter Hall’s group executive – industrial, Paul Ford.

“As an investment fund manager, performance is everything and this transaction demonstrates the group’s focus on being an active seller in order to further improve portfolio quality and enhance returns for our capital partners,” said Ford.

The industrial and logistics sector has been a key growth sector for Charter Hall over the past five years, and is now Australia’s second largest industrial platform, with a A$4.7 billion portfolio. The firm’s industrial FUM as at 31 December 2016 make up 25 percent of the group’s A$19 billion total FUM.

Blackstone managed $101.9 billion in real estate as of December 31, according to its fourth quarter earnings report. Its flagship global opportunistic fund, BREP VIII, had a 17 percent net internal rate of return, while its core-plus platform, Blackstone Property Partners, generated a 13 percent net IRR.