London — Blackstone said on Monday it would sell about £1bn of UK logistics assets to Tritax Big Box in exchange for cash and a 9% stake, and was separately considering a bid for UK self-storage firm Big Yellow.
The announcements are part of a wider push in deal activity and investment in Britain and Europe by the Wall Street giant.
The US private equity firm, which has pledged to invest £100bn in Britain over the next decade, won a bidding war in July against Tritax Big Box to buy logistics specialist Warehouse REIT for nearly £500m.
Blackstone has become a major player in logistics in Europe as a boom in internet shopping boosts demand for warehouses.
While it has agreed to sell about 41 of its logistics assets within a larger British portfolio to Tritax, it will become one of its biggest shareholders when it takes a 9% stake. Tritax will also pay Blackstone £632m in cash.
Shares in Tritax were last up 3% following the news.
UK real-estate consolidation
Separately, Blackstone said it was in the early stages of considering a cash offer for Big Yellow Group — which has a market capitalisation of about £1.9bn. That sent shares of the London-listed firm higher by as much as 22%.
Big Yellow Group said after Blackstone’s statement that it had met a small number of parties to consider options including a potential sale, but had not received an approach.
The UK real-estate sector has seen significant consolidation in recent years as higher borrowing costs have weighed on property values, though some investors are betting on a revival.
Among the deals, British healthcare real-estate investor and NHS landlord Assura is being bought by rival Primary Health Properties after a months-long battle with private equity firm KKR.
Reuters
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