Blackstone selling warehouses to Prologis for $3.1 billion

By Dawn Lim | Bloomberg

Blackstone Inc. struck a deal to sell warehouses and industrial properties to Prologis Inc. for $3.1 billion.

San Francisco-based Prologis’ deal will expand its reach in key markets including Atlanta and parts of California (Southern California, Central Valley and the Bay Area), the companies said Monday in a statement. The properties represent nearly 14 million square feet.

Property owners have been snapping up warehouses in recent years, lured in part by the rise in e-commerce. But the broader commercial real estate sector has come under pressure over the past year as borrowing costs rose, complicating the financing for certain owners.

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“These high-quality properties are complementary to our portfolio and fit perfectly into our long-term strategic plan for growth,” Dan Letter, Prologis’ president, said in the statement.

The sale will allow Blackstone’s opportunistic funds, which buy properties with the goal to maximize their value, to cash out. Blackstone’s Nadeem Meghji, who leads the real estate business in the Americas, said logistics properties remain a “high conviction theme” for the company.