Blackstone Buys Seoul Logistics Portfolio for $500 Million

The New York-based Blackstone, a global leader in real estate investing with $325 billion of investor capital under management, on Monday said that Blackstone Real Estate Partners (Blackstone) has acquired through QUBE Industrial Asset Management funds a high-quality, last-mile logistics portfolio in the Seoul Metropolitan Area in Korea.

The portfolio comprises two modern, Grade A logistics centers spanning 1.3 million sq. ft. in Gimpo and Namyangju, which are among Greater Seoul’s most sought-after infill markets. Tenants include some of the largest local and global corporations in e-commerce and logistics. The transaction was valued at $500 million, Wall Street Journal reported.

Chris Kim, Head of Blackstone Real Estate – Korea, said that this deal was a continuation of their commitment to investing in prime Korean assets in fast-growing sectors.

Logistics is Blackstone’s one of the highest conviction investment themes in real estate globally and a focus for the company in South Korea, particularly in the Seoul Metropolitan Area where last-mile new supply remains extremely limited and vacancy for such assets is at a low 4% range.

“We are pleased to bring together our global expertise and scale in the sector, asset management capabilities, and local insights, to continue to grow the platform for long-term success,” Kim added.

Blackstone’s Activities in Korea

Blackstone has been an active investor in Korean real estate since establishing the team three years ago.

Last year, it completed three major transactions, including investing in a large multi-story logistics asset in Gimpo; buying an office building in Seoul’s Gangnam district to convert into a select-service hotel in partnership with Travelodge Asia; and closing the landmark sale of Arc Place after years of work to transform the asset into a premier office building in Seoul.

Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and is the largest owner of commercial real estate globally, owning and operating assets across every major geography and sector, including logistics, data centers, residential, office and hospitality.

Its opportunistic funds seek to acquire undermanaged, well-located assets across the world. Blackstone’s Core+ business invests in substantially stabilized real estate assets globally, through both institutional strategies and strategies tailored for income-focused individual investors including Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. (BREIT).

Blackstone Real Estate also operates one of the leading global real estate debt businesses, providing comprehensive financing solutions across the capital structure and risk spectrum, including management of Blackstone Mortgage Trust.

The company reported total inflows of $7.2 billion in the second quarter of this year and $27.3 billion over the last twelve months (LTM). The inflows in the quarter included $2.4 billion in Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) of which $1.2 billion was from Insurance Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs), $1.1 billion of capital raised in BREIT, and $1 billion in Blackstone Americas Logistics within Core+.

The company has deployed $6.2 billion in capital during the quarter, including acquisitions of a portfolio of performing commercial real estate loans in BREDS and a Texas Industrial portfolio in Core+, and $22.1 billion over the LTM.