Blackstone has entered the US manufactured housing sector with a $172m (€142m) portfolio acquisition, according to sources familiar with the deal.

Blackstone has bought Tricon Lifestyle Communities – a portfolio of 14 assets located in Arizona and California – from Tricon Capital Group.

Last month, Tricon announced that it had completed the sale of the portfolio to an unnamed institutional asset manager.

Sources familiar with Blackstone’s investment activities said the company intends to look for further investments in manufactured housing, a fragmented market that does not usually attract institutional capital.

Blackstone declined a request for comment.

Tricon plans to use the proceeds largely to pay down its corporate credit facility.

Gary Berman, president and chief executive officer of Tricon, said, “TLC has served us well as a stable and predictable business, and we remain committed to expanding our sources of recurring cash flows through our single-family and multi-family rental businesses which have a much clearer path to scale.”