LISBON: According to Aguirre Newman SA, a real estate consulting company in Lisbon, the Investment in Portuguese real estate in 2015 will rise to about €1 billion in 2015 from €730 million last year as private equity funds enter the market, according to Aguirre Newman SA, a real estate consulting company in Lisbon. Portugal’s economic growth will accelerate to 1.7 percent this year from 0.9 percent last year, bolstered by exports and investment, according to forecasts by the country’s central bank.
A Blackstone spokesperson declined to comment. Markus Esser, head of communications at Commerz Real, Commerzbank’s property fund manager, also declined to comment.
“We won’t comment on any possible talks, although I can confirm there are plans to sell the two malls in Portugal,” Esser said today by phone.
Blackstone in December bought an office portfolio from Novo Banco, the lender that emerged from the breakup of Banco Espirito Santo. The deal of about €200 million was the biggest commercial property transaction in Portugal in the last eight years, according to Luis Rocha Antunes, head of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield in Portugal.
Private equity funds raised $29 billion for real estate investment in the first quarter, according to research firm Preqin Ltd. The $14.5 billion of institutional capital secured by Blackstone makes it the largest closed-end real estate fund ever raised, according to Preqin.
