New York City-based investment firm Blackstone Group has agreed to purchase a $2.7 billion-valued multifamily portfolio from General Electric, a Blackstone rep confirmed.
The transaction, one of the largest of the year, follows the major deal struck earlier this year between Arlington, Va.-based AvalonBay and Chicago-based Equity Residential, in which both companies purchased $6.5 billion worth of holdings in Archstone from Lehman Bros.
Blackstone will purchase the majority stake in 80 apartment complexes from GE, located in Dallas, Atlanta, and other parts of the Southeast, totaling 30,000 units. The company is looking to liquidate its real estate portfolio, of which GE’s commercial properties suffered during the downturn. Blackstone declined to further comment on the deal.
The equity behind the deal is expected to be close to $1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Blackstone has moved to publicly sell its hotel companies and retail property company in the last few weeks. It also has become a huge player into the single-family rental market, investing more than $5.5 billion in 30,000 homes across 12 U.S. major markets. Still, its apartment purchase from GE is its largest U.S. real estate investment in two years, as it continues to leverage the record $13.3 billion global real estate fund it recently raised.
