The Blackstone Group has reached a deal to buy Midtown-headquartered industrial landlord Gramercy Property Trust for $7.6 billion.
The deal values Gramercy’s shares at $27.50, or a 15 percent premium over the real estate investment trust’s closing price Friday, according to the Financial Times.
Gramercy invests predominantly in single-tenant industrial properties, and as of earlier this year reportedly had a portfolio spanning 81 million square feet. The company last year sold its European arm for around $1.1 billion to a group of clients managed by Axa Investment Managers.
Blackstone, meanwhile, announced in March that it planned to buy Canyon Industrial Portfolio’s warehouses and distribution centers for $1.8 billion.
The Gramercy deal is expected to close in the second half of the year, pending approval by the company’s shareholders, the Financial Times reported.
Blackstone’s head of real estate Jonathan Gray was recently promoted to president and COO, leaving his top lieutenants Kathleen McCarthy and Kenneth Caplan to run the real estate division. [FT] – Rich Bockmann