EUROPE – Blackstone has retrospectively secured finance for seven warehouse assets across the UK it acquired for £95m (€112m) in the second half of 2012 as part of its burgeoning European logistics platform.
US bank Wells Fargo and LaSalle Investment Management provided just over £67m in a combined loan, according to an announcement this week.
Wells Fargo provided £54.3m in senior debt, and LaSalle £13m in mezzanine financing.
This will be the third mezzanine debt deal between LaSalle and Blackstone for logistics assets in the last year.
The most recent deal covers assets spread across the Midlands and North of England, seven of them tenanted and one slated for refurbishment.
Wells Fargo did not provide an interview before deadline.
However, it said its role in the deal was part of its plan to expand its UK industrial business after setting up commercial real estate operations earlier this year.
A spokesman for Blackstone said the recent spate of acquisitions represented a "sign of some determination to build up the business within the UK and Europe" after Blackstone at the end of January appointed former AMB managing director Mo Barzegar to head its 91-asset European logistics operations.
The European logistics subsidiary, Logicor, is understood to be focusing primarily on the UK, though it last month closed an off-market deal involving two Polish portfolios.
In separate news involving a major US investor, PIMCO announced that it had hired MGPA's European chief executive Laurent Luccioni as head of its European commercial real estate portfolio.
PIMCO did not respond to requests for interview on the London-based appointment, which took place in January, though it was only announced this week.
Meanwhile, MGPA confirmed this week that it was for sale, though a spokeswoman declined to comment on existing and likely bidders.
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