Blackstone has revealed it has $32.2bn (€29.9bn) of “dry powder” to invest in global real estate.
The amount of capital is roughly one-third of the $94.3bn available to the private equity firm to invest across all asset classes, according to first-quarter results.
Blackstone said its real estate strategies attracted $2.5bn in the first three months of this year, including $1.1bn for its core-plus funds.
Its BREDS real estate debt vehicle attracted $630m, while its non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) raised $478m.
Total real estate assets under management are now worth $101.2bn, making it still the largest asset class for Blackstone.
Over the past 12 months, the company has sold $21.bn of real estate, with $6.7bn sold in the first quarter of this year.
It is understood that Blackstone expects to reach a final close in June for its latest European opportunistic real estate fund, hitting its ‘hard cap’ of €7.5bn.
As reported this month, Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe V raised €4.6bn in March and is set to almost double that figure in the coming weeks, according to one of the prospective investors.
In 2015, IPE Real Estate reported that Blackstone was aiming to raise €7bn for the fund.
