Acquisition will continue to expand
Blackstone’s strategic presence in U.S. e-commerce logistics
Exit marks a significant step for Colony as it
implements plan to focus on digital real estate and
infrastructure
Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY) (“Colony Capital,” or the
“Company”) and Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX, an affiliate of
Blackstone (NYSE: BX), announced today that they have entered into
definitive agreements for Blackstone to acquire Colony Industrial,
the industrial real estate assets and affiliated industrial
operating platform of Colony Capital, for an aggregate purchase
price of $5.9 billion.
The Colony Industrial last-mile light industrial portfolio
represents the substantial majority of the total transaction and
comprises approximately 60 million square feet of infill, logistics
assets across 465 light industrial buildings in 26 U.S. markets,
with significant concentration in Dallas, Atlanta, Florida,
northern New Jersey, and California. The transaction also includes
Colony’s 51% ownership interest in a 4 million square foot
portfolio of bulk distribution assets and the affiliated operating
platform which manages the properties of both portfolios. The
aggregate net sales proceeds to Colony are expected to be in excess
of $1.2 billion.
This transaction comprises one of the highest quality portfolios
of last-mile logistics assets in the U.S. Colony Industrial was
formed in December 2014 through Colony Capital’s acquisition of
Cobalt Capital Partners, founded and led by Lewis D. Friedland.
Since then, the portfolio has doubled in size and produced strong
and consistent operating results.
Darren Tangen, President of Colony Capital, stated, “We
appreciate Blackstone has recognized the value that we’ve created
at Colony Industrial and they are the ideal steward to lead this
business during the next phase of its growth. Lew Friedland and the
Colony Industrial team have executed flawlessly, achieving and even
surpassing the goals of our original investment thesis five years
ago. This sale allows Colony to both achieve compelling returns for
our investors and generate significant liquidity, which among other
uses, will help accelerate our ongoing transition into digital real
estate and infrastructure.”
Nadeem Meghji, Head of Real Estate Americas at Blackstone,
stated, “This acquisition of high quality warehouses demonstrates
our continued strong conviction in logistics and positive
e-commerce trends. As retailers continue to shorten delivery times
and expand their last mile footprints, we believe warehouses in
dense population centers will continue to experience outsized
demand growth.”
Lew Friedland, Managing Director, Head of Colony Industrial,
commented, “Last-mile logistics real estate continues to become an
increasingly critical component of the global supply chain. We are
pleased to have generated strong returns for our investors
implementing this strategy and the portfolio and platform are
extremely well-positioned for the positive market environment and
continued growing demand for last-mile logistics space.”
Each of the agreements is subject to customary closing
conditions, including third party consent for the sale of the 51%
interest in the bulk industrial portfolio, and is expected to close
in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher served as legal counsel, and Morgan
Stanley and Eastdil Secured served as financial advisors, and CBRE
National Partners served as real estate advisor to Colony Capital.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett served as legal counsel to
Blackstone.
About Colony Industrial
Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Colony Industrial is the industrial
platform of Colony Capital, Inc. Its portfolio comprises
approximately 60 million square feet of owned, developed and under
contract logistics warehouse properties in 26 markets across the
United States. The portfolio’s diversified tenant base includes
major national B2B, B2C, wholesale and consumer businesses. For
more information, visit www.clny.com/industrial.
About Colony Capital
Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY) is a leading global investment
management firm with assets under management of $55 billion, which
includes approximately $14 billion of assets under management from
Digital Bridge, a leading global investment manager of digital
infrastructure assets including cell towers, small cells, fiber and
data centers. The Company manages capital on behalf of its
stockholders, as well as institutional and retail investors in
private funds, and traded and non-traded real estate investment
trusts. The Company has significant holdings in: (a) the
healthcare, industrial and hospitality property sectors; (b) Colony
Credit Real Estate, Inc. (NYSE: CLNC) and NorthStar Realty Europe
Corp. (NYSE: NRE), which are both externally managed by
subsidiaries of the Company; and (c) various other equity and debt
investments. The Company is headquartered in Los Angeles with key
offices in Boca Raton, New York, Paris and London, and has over 450
employees across 21 locations in 13 countries as a result of the
business combination with Digital Bridge. For additional
information regarding the Company and its management and business,
please refer to www.clny.com.
About Blackstone Real Estate
Blackstone is a global leader in real estate investing.
Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and has $154
billion of investor capital under management. Blackstone is one of
the largest property owners in the world, owning and operating
assets across every major geography and sector, including
logistics, multifamily and single family housing, office,
hospitality and retail. Our opportunistic funds seek to acquire
undermanaged, well-located assets across the world. Blackstone’s
Core+ strategy invests in substantially stabilized real estate
globally through regional open-ended funds focused on high-quality
assets, and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT), a
non-listed REIT that invests in U.S. income-generating assets.
Blackstone Real Estate also operates one of the leading global real
estate debt businesses, providing comprehensive financing solutions
across the capital structure and risk spectrum, including
management of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT).
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking
statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future
plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar
expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In
some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use
of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,”
“expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,”
“estimates,” “predicts,” or “potential” or the negative of these
words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions
of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate
solely to historical matters. Forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and
contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, and may cause
actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any
forward-looking statement. Factors that might cause such a
difference include, without limitation, whether the Company will
complete the sale of the industrial platform within the timeframe
anticipated or at all, including the Company’s ability to obtain
any necessary consents for the bulk transaction, the Company’s
strategic plans, and portfolio mix, and other risks and
uncertainties detailed in the Company’s filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). All forward-looking
statements reflect the Company’s good faith beliefs, assumptions
and expectations, but they are not guarantees of future
performance. Additional information about these and other factors
can be found in Colony Capital’s reports filed from time to time
with the SEC.
Colony Capital cautions investors not to unduly rely on any
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak
only as of the date of this press release. Colony Capital is under
no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the
date of this press release, nor to conform prior statements to
actual results or revised expectations, and Colony Capital does not
intend to do so.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190930005254/en/
Colony Capital: Investor Contact: Lasse Glassen Addo
Investor Relations 310-829-5400 lglassen@addoir.com
Media Contact: Blicksilver Public Relations Lisa Baker
914-725-5949 lisa@blicksilverpr.com
Blackstone: Jennifer Friedman
Jennifer.Friedman@blackstone.com Tel: (212) 583-5122
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