Blackstone has closed its latest European real estate fund with €9.8bn in capital commitments, which the manager says is the largest European real estate drawdown fund ever raised based on third-party capital.
As previously reported, Blackstone was aiming to raise €10bn for its opportunistic Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe VII (BREP Europe VII) fund and had secured backing from several US institutions.
IPE Real Assets reported that the Minnesota State Board of Investment was planning to make a $150m (€135.9m) commitment, while Illinois State Universities Retirement System committed €50m.
New York State Common Retirement Fund approved a $300m commitment to BREP Europe VII, Teacher Retirement System of Texas committed $150m and New Mexico State Investment Council also disclosed a $150m allocation to the fund.
According to Blackstone, its global, Asia and Europe opportunistic strategies now hold almost $47bn in available capital.
James Seppala, the head of European real estate, Blackstone, said: “We are extremely proud to have raised Europe’s largest real estate drawdown fund ever, during what has been a period of exceptional dislocation in the industry, particularly in Europe.
“The real estate recovery is coming into view and we are grateful that our limited partners have entrusted us with substantial capital to seek to capture opportunities through our time-tested, high-conviction investment process.”
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