Blackstone has revealed that its latest European opportunistic real estate fund is expected to reach €9.5bn in capital commitments.
Alexandra Hill, a senior managing director for the private equity firm disclosed the information about the Blackstone Real Estate Partners (BREP) Europe VI fund at New Mexico State Investment Council’s (SIC) board meeting, as the sovereign wealth fund approved a $75m (€67.4m) commitment.
In March this year, IPE Real Assets reported that Blackstone was targeting an €8bn fundraise for the fund. The predecessor fund raised €7.8bn in 2017.
It is the first time that New Mexico SIC has invested in a Blackstone real estate fund focused exclusively on Europe.
New Mexico SIC said the European fund series had generated strong performance, citing a 17% net internal rate of return (IRR) for BREP Europe IV, and a similar performance for BREP Europe V.
According to a source close to the matter, Blackstone is targeting a net IRR of 15% for the latest fund.
It will target logistics, office, hospitality and residential assets in Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, the Nordics and the Netherlands.
Blackstone has recently carried out a number of large portfolio and corporate transactions, but it is understood that the fund manager is favourable to investing in individual assets in Europe, where it sees better pricing relative to the US and Asia-Pacific.
Blackstone declined a request for further comment.
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe VI has raised $1.1bn
