US private equity firm Blackstone is raising capital for a new, European focused core-plus real estate fund, according to media reports.
The capital raising is understood to be destined for its open-ended Blackstone Property Partners Europe.
Blackstone closed ts fifth European opportunistic real estate fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe V (BREP Europe V), with €7.8 bn of commitments in early June, making it the largest ever dedicated European real estate fund.
The investment giant launched its first US-focused core-plus property fund in 2014, the multi-billion dollar Blackstone Property Partners.
During the firm's earnings call in January, CEO Stephen Schwartzman said that the group's core-plus strategy had reached $14 bn as of December 31 2016.
At the time, sources said Blackstone's core-plus fund had a queue of $1 bn waiting to invest.
According to the firm's website, Blackstone's core-plus business 'seeks to leverage Blackstone’s 'buy it, fix it' strategy to deliver compelling risk-adjusted returns in the core-plus space' by targeting 'high quality assets in gateway cities with a more modest risk profile, longer hold periods, and a significant current income component'.
IPE Real Estate reported that Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund was contemplating an investment, and would be meeting with Blackstone this week.
Blackstone's core-plus strategy has to date generated a net internal rate of return of around 12%.
