Blackstone Raises More Than $30 Billion for Giant Real Estate Fund

(Bloomberg) — Blackstone Inc. has closed on its largest global property drawdown fund, targeting opportunistic deals across sectors such as rental housing, hospitality and data centers.

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The company secured $30.4 billion of total capital commitments for the fund, called Blackstone Real Estate Partners X, according to a statement Tuesday. Blackstone’s latest fund is the largest of that type, according to PitchBook data going back to 2002.

The real estate market has come under pressure over the past year due to a pullback across commercial-property lending, as borrowing costs skyrocketed. At the same time, the stocks of public real estate investment trusts have also suffered amid the uncertainty in the market and increasing concerns about certain property types such as offices.

“Pullback with all forms of capital will create opportunities,” said Kathleen McCarthy, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate. “We can use our capital and expertise to capitalize on the moment for our investors.”

Blackstone’s latest fundraising helps cement the private equity firm’s status as a powerhouse in the real estate market. Blackstone’s real estate business, which started in 1991, now has $326 billion of investor capital under management.

One of Blackstone’s real estate vehicles has faced a rougher past few months. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, which caters to wealthy individuals, has been facing heightened withdrawal requests recently.

The firm started to raise money for the large property drawdown fund last year. Three of its strategies — global, Asia and Europe — now have a total of $50 billion in capital commitments, the firm said.

Blackstone Real Estate’s portfolio is about 80% concentrated in properties such as logistics, rental housing, hospitality, lab offices and data centers.

(Updates with PitchBook data in second paragraph.)