Blackstone has sold Valad Europe to Australia’s Cromwell Property Group, four years after buying its parent company, Valad Property Group.
Cromwell, an Australian real estate investment trust (REIT), is buying the fund management business for €145m, having raised €150m from investors through a convertible bond issue.
The deal marks a return to Australian ownership, four years after Blackstone bought Australian listed Valad Property Group and spun out the European arm.
Cromwell has entered into a conditional share purchase agreement with Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI, which is the majority owner, and Valad Europe’s management, which also own a stake. It is subject to UK and Guernsey regulatory approval.
Valad Europe specialises in value-added real estate strategies across Europe, with €5.3bn assets under management in 24 mandates and funds.
In the past four months, Valad Europe revealed it received two separate mandates to invest €500m in European real estate on behalf of an unnamed investor.
Cromwell CEO Paul Weightman said: “The acquisition of Valad Europe presents the opportunity to acquire a successful, value add property funds management platform with scale across a number of geographies and sectors.
“The business is a strong cultural fit with Cromwell, is complementary to our existing funds management operations, and furthers our strategy to increase the earnings contribution from funds management to approximately 20%.”
