Blackstone Eyes $1.4B Spanish Housing Sale

Blackstone is exploring a $1.4 billion sale of Spanish rental housing, a move that would chip away at one of its largest post-crisis real estate wagers.

The investment giant tapped JLL and Eastdil Secured to advise on the potential deal, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the talks. The portfolio is managed by Fidere Patrimonio Socimi, a platform Blackstone first bought into in 2013.

The firm intends to hold onto the management arm even if it unloads the homes. Blackstone and its brokers declined to comment.

The listing would mark a significant milestone in Blackstone’s changing approach to the Spanish housing market.

Starting in 2013, the New York-based firm plowed into distressed real estate as the country staggered out of one of Europe’s worst housing busts. It also took advantage of the government starting to deregulate the market.

It bulked up through headline deals like the purchase of $32 billion of Banco Popular’s property loans in 2017 and the acquisition of landlord Testa Residencial the following year.

The timing comes as Europe’s deal market begins to thaw after three years of rising rates froze transaction activity. Limited sales starved investors of capital returns, crimping fundraising across the private equity industry. If Blackstone pushes ahead, the deal could test renewed buyer appetite for large residential portfolios on the continent.

It’s not the only Spanish divestment Blackstone may be weighing. Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC is reportedly looking to boost its stake in a hotel company co-owned with Blackstone.

Elsewhere abroad, the private equity giant acquired Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho in Japan’s biggest city for $2.6 billion, the largest real estate investment by a foreign entity in that country’s history, according to Blackstone.

Stateside, Blackstone’s purchase price for the 352-key East Miami hotel in Brickell was revealed as nearly $300 million, The Real Deal learned.

Funds affiliated with New York-based Blackstone bought the 40-story hotel at 788 Brickell Plaza from funds managed by Honolulu, Hawaii-based Trinity Investments and New York-based Certares, the sellers recently announced.

— Holden Walter-Warner