OSLO: Blackstone Group LP, the world’s biggest manager of alternative assets, agreed to buy Nordic real estate portfolios valued at about 22 billion kroner ($2.7 billion) in the region’s largest property deal since 2008.
Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe IV entered into an agreement with 10 funds managed by Obligo Investment Management AS to acquire the portfolios in an all-cash deal, according to a joint statement Wednesday.
“We have had a long-standing ambition to increase our presence in the Nordics,” James Seppala, head of European Acquisitions at Blackstone, said in the statement. “Following the acquisition of the real estate portfolio managed by Obligo, we will have a real estate portfolio in the Nordics which fits our investment strategy well.”
International investors are benefiting from a 31 percent weakening of the krone against the dollar and 6.7 percent versus the euro in the last 12 months. It follows Citycon Oyj’s 1.5 billion euro ($1.6 billion) acquisition of Norwegian shopping-center owner Sektor Gruppen ASA in May.
The portfolio of residential and commercial property in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Germany and the U.S. includes shopping centers, hotels, and apartments, Obligo Chief Executive Officer Joergen Pleym Ulvness said by phone.
Oslo-based Obligo manages a $6.2 billion portfolio focused on residential and commercial properties in Sweden and Germany, according to its website.
Blackstone also agreed to buy 34 percent of Agasti’s operational business subsidiary, principally made up of Obligo, for 250 million kroner, according to the statement. The companies aim to jointly pursue further real estate transactions.
