EQT’s real estate arm is acquiring US real estate investment manager Stockbridge for up to $550m (€490m) in a deal that expands its core and alternative property offerings.
EQT Real Estate has agreed to pay an initial $375m in cash, with up to $175m in additional performance-related earnouts payable by 2030.
As part of the deal, senior management shareholders at Stockbridge have committed to reinvest 50% of their net proceeds into EQT AB shares.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in San Francisco, Stockbridge manages approximately $16.5bn in fee-generating assets under management with $27bn gross asset value, across 180 institutional clients.
EQT Real Estate said the transaction strengthens its presence in traditional sectors such as industrial investments, while broadening its exposure to high-conviction alternative sub-sectors, including industrial outdoor storage and alternative living strategies such as manufactured housing.
The deal also adds a top-performing open-ended core fund platform to EQT’s lineup, which will become its flagship diversified core strategy.
Under the new organisational setup, Stockbridge CEO Terry Fancher will serve as vice chair of EQT Real Estate. Stockbridge CFO Kristin Renaudin will assume the role of global CFO for EQT Real Estate, with Tuba Malinowski appointed head of US diversified real estate.
Fancher said: “We are excited to bring our expertise to EQT to broaden its investment offerings and exposure across both traditional and alternative real estate sectors, while maintaining the investment rigor and client-first mindset that have defined Stockbridge since our founding. We look forward to building this next chapter of the platform together.”
The deal represents the latest milestone in EQT’s real estate expansion, which began in February 2015 when the private equity firm stepped into the sector by recruiting Wainbridge founders Edouard Fernandez and Rob Rackind to build a European platform. In January 2021, EQT made its major US breakthrough by acquiring logistics specialist Exeter Property for $1.87bn to form EQT Exeter.
In the IPE Real Assets Top 150 Real Estate Investment Managers 2025 ranking, EQT Real Estate ranked 57th with €31.59bn in assets under management, one spot ahead of Stockbridge at number 58 with €30.7bn. On a combined basis, the two managers would have held the 30th position in the ranking.
Per Franzén, CEO and managing partner of EQT, said: “Our real estate platform is an important part of EQT’s offering to our clients, and this combination represents a significant next step in the development of the business. Stockbridge has built an impressive track record over more than two decades and is an excellent fit with EQT Real Estate.
“Both sides will learn and develop from one another while contributing to the wider EQT platform. The combination broadens what we can offer our clients: additional thematic strategies supported by specialist investment teams that will benefit from EQT’s global sourcing, operating and distribution capabilities.”
Henry Steinberg, global head of EQT Real Estate, said: “This transaction will enable us to deliver the attractive risk-adjusted returns our clients have come to expect from EQT Real Estate across a broader range of sectors. It will expand our industrial platform and broaden client access to complementary strategies, accelerating EQT Real Estate’s evolution into a more thematically diversified real estate manager, while staying true to our sector-specialist, local-with-locals approach.
“In turn, we bring EQT’s international platform, global market intelligence, and our proprietary data and AI capabilities and tools to enhance how Stockbridge sources, underwrites, and manages assets, and we hope to sharpen both firms’ investment frameworks to further cement our position as a leading investor and operator.”
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