April 26, 2022

Blackstone Inc. to buy PS Business Parks Inc. for About $7.6 Billion

April 26, 2022 | Bloomberg

Blackstone Inc. agreed to buy PS Business Parks Inc. for about $7.6 billion, expanding its bets on real estate across the U.S.

Affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate will buy Glendale, California-based PSB for $187.50 a share in cash, according to a statement Monday. The price is roughly a 12% premium to PSB’s closing price on Friday.

Under the deal, Blackstone agreed to take over approximately 27 million square feet of industrial and office properties, business parks and rental housing properties located in California, Miami, Texas and Northern Virginia. Shares of PS Business Parks surged Monday. The stock was up 12% at $187.96 of 9:40 a.m. Blackstone slipped as much as 3.6% to $106.66.

Blackstone has been ramping up its real estate acquisitions, with purchases of rental housing, industrial and office portfolios. The firm has spent billions of dollars in the past year, agreeing to deals ranging from apartment communities to luxury rentals in Manhattan. It recently agreed to buy student-housing operator American Campus Communities Inc. for $12.8 billion.

“We are excited to add PS Business Parks’ business park, office and industrial assets to our portfolio and look forward to leveraging our expertise to provide the best possible service and experience for PSB’s customers,” said David Levine, co-head of Americas acquisitions for Blackstone Real Estate.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. The agreement includes a “go-shop” period that will expire in 30 days, during which PSB can actively solicit and consider alternative acquisition proposals.

PSB owns and operates industrial and low-rise suburban offices across major coastal markets. The firm had 96 properties, with roughly 4,900 tenants, as of March 30. Its portfolio also includes 800 residential units. The company’s largest shareholder, Public Storage, which owns about 26% of shares, has agreed to vote in favor of the transaction, according to the statement.

Blackstone, long a force in the real estate world, has been scooping up U.S. properties of all kinds as the pandemic reshapes where Americans work and live. A major part of the firm’s real estate operation is Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, known as BREIT.

The non-traded REIT has become a juggernaut since launching in 2017. Prior to the student-housing deal announced last week, BREIT in recent months agreed to buy apartment owner Preferred Apartment Communities Inc. for $5.8 billion. It also purchased Home Partners of America Inc., which rents single-family homes, in a $6 billion transaction last year.

Source: Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance