Publicly-traded PERE firms’ Q1 earnings: Our interactive analysis

Transaction activity picked up significantly last quarter, according to earnings results for publicly-traded firms that report how capital is being raised, deployed and realized.

During the first quarter, capital invested in real estate jumped by $5 billion cumulatively year-on-year. Blackstone accounted for the majority of the difference, with $2.7 billion invested in Q1 2017 and $6.7 billion in Q1 2018.

Blackstone’s major investments during the past quarter included $1.3 billion for the purchase of a majority stake in the property portfolio of Banco Popular, according to its earnings report. The acquisition, announced last summer, was funded largely through debt, alongside equity from its Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe Fund V, PERE previously reported.

One other Blackstone significant capital outlay came from the firm’s core-plus real estate fund. Through the fund, the firm agreed to buy Canadian logistics REIT Pure Industrial Trust in January, in a deal valued at $3.8 billion, PERE reported at the time.

Carlyle’s real assets capital deployment also more than doubled year-on-year, up to $1.9 billion.

The publicly-traded firms raised 55 percent more capital last quarter compared to the same period in 2017, with major capital raises including $768 million for Ares’ fifth European opportunistic fund.

Realizations, however, dropped from almost $7 billion to $3 billion year-on-year, largely due to Blackstone’s 59 percent decrease in dispositions compared with Q1 2017. Blackstone’s realizations last year included the sale of a 25 percent stake in hotel company Hilton and the $1.8 billion initial public offering for its single family rental company, Invitation Homes.

The publicly-traded private equity firms that made disclosures in their earnings results about its real estate capital raises, investments and realizations included Blackstone, Carlyle, Apollo and Ares.

For firm-specific earnings coverage, read about what Blackstone president Jon Gray said the firm’s investments have in common. From PERE sister publication Private Funds Management, explore how a C-corporation conversion affects KKR.