Blackstone has expanded its multi-billion dollar life-science real estate fund with the acquisition of a US$3.45bn (€2.8bn) portfolio from Brookfield Asset Management.
Blackstone said the purchase takes the enterprise value of Blackstone Property Partners Life Sciences, a long-term investment vehicle that owns BioMed Realty, to about US$20bn.
Approximately 90% of the 2.3m sqft portfolio of lab offices is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, making Blackstone the largest life-science office owner in the city.
In October, Blackstone set up the fund so that investors could gain long-term exposure to a $14.6bn porfolio of life-science real estate and its BioMed Realty platform which it acquired in 2016.
Cambridge is one of the fastest growing lab office submarkets in the US, adjacent to academic institutions and the largest cluster of pharmaceutical companies in the country. The portfolio is located in East Cambridge, directly adjacent to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“This transaction illustrates Blackstone’s continued conviction in the life-sciences space both broadly, and within real estate, investing in best-in-class assets located adjacent to top-tier research and education institutions,” said Nadeem Meghji, head of real estate Americas at Blackstone.
“We look forward to continuing to grow the platform with the help of BioMed Realty, our world-class life-science office platform, with the goal of delivering value to our long-term investors.”
A number of major institutional investors have joined the fund, including Sweden’s Alecta, New Mexico State Investment Council and Dutch investor Bouwinvest.
