Blackstone raises $4.2b for Asia fund
The Blackstone Group has raised an additional $660 million since June for Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia, its first-ever Asian exclusive fund, bringing the total capital raised to $4.19 billion, according to a filing with the SEC.
The fund has eclipsed the $4 billion goal it set when it launched in January 2013, though an official announcement of a final close has not been released and Blackstone could not be reached for comment. There is a $5 billion hard cap.
The opportunistic fund will invest across all property types with a focus on assets in China, India, Australia and Japan. In a past presentation to an investor, Blackstone stated that, despite healthy real estate fundamentals in Asia, limited capital availability is creating favorable pricing. Additionally, Blackstone cited nearly $50 billion in impending Asian real estate fund maturities in 2015 and 2016, which will create investment opportunities as investors are forced to unwind or downsize their regional operations.
As of earlier this year, the fund had raised the most ever for an Asia-exclusive real estate fund, having outraised Macquarie Goodman Hong Kong Logistics Fund, an open-end fundmanaged by Goodman Group, $3 billion to $2.7 billion, respectively.
