Blackstone investors back move into Asia property
With a target of US$4b, the fund's first pledges show enthusiasm for region's prospects
Blackstone Group, the world's biggest manager of alternative assets, has US$1.5 billion of capital commitments for its first Asian property fund, targeted at US$4 billion, according to a letter sent to investors.
The New York-based company said it planned to begin investing the money immediately. The firm will focus on China, India, Australia and Japan, a person with knowledge of its plans said in December. The Asia-Pacific region's economic growth and decline in property values have attracted private-equity investors.
In the United States, Blackstone has been the biggest buyer of commercial property since prices bottomed more than three years ago. The company last year completed the largest private real estate fund, with US$13.3 billion of pledges.
There's "a pretty sharp contrast" in growth in Asia compared with Europe and the US, Jonathan Gray, Blackstone's global head of real estate, said at the firm's investor day on May 3. "And yet, there's not a lot of capital."
Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia is the largest private property fund being raised for the region, followed by the US$1 billion Alpha Asia Macro Trends Fund II, according to Preqin, a London-based research firm.