Blackstone makes $2b bid for Finland’s Sponda

Blackstone has made a €1.76 billion ($1.98 billion) takeover bid for real estate investor Sponda. Swedish real estate fund manager Areim AB will be a co-investor in the bid.

Sponda’s properties, which include office and retail spaces in Finland’s largest cities, were valued at approximately €3.8 billion ($4.3 billion) in March.

Since 2015, Blackstone has acquired control of more than €4 billion ($4.5 billion) of properties in the Nordic region, including €1 billion ($1.1 billion) of assets located in Finland.

Recently, Blackstone agreed to sell European warehouse firm Logicor to China Investment Corp.

The GDP growth in Finland for 2016 was estimated at 1.6 percent. The economic growth outlook for 2017 remains somewhat weaker, at 1 percent, mostly due to rising inflation influencing consumer spending.

The office market in Finland had a sound start to the year. The total investment volumes were €220 million ($248 million) during the first quarter 2017. The demand for secondary office properties increased during 2016 and first quarter 2017.