Blackstone completes fundraising for European real estate fund

Blackstone's newest European real estate fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe VII (BREP Europe VII), has completed fundraising with a record €9.8 bn.

This makes it the largest such fund in European history based on outside investments. 
The New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, committed $300 million to the fund in May. Illinois State Universities Retirement System, Champaign, committed €50 mln to the fund in March 2024.
Set up in 2023, the London-based BREP Europe VII will focus on opportunistic real estate investments across Europe, primarily in residential, logistics, office, and retail properties, with a particular interest in the leisure and hospitality sectors.
James Seppala, head of European Real Estate, Blackstone, said: “We are extremely proud to have raised Europe’s largest real estate drawdown fund ever during what has been a period of exceptional dislocation in the industry, particularly in Europe. The real estate recovery is coming into view and we are grateful that our limited partners have entrusted us with substantial capital to seek to capture opportunities through our time-tested, high conviction investment process.”
Blackstone has so far raised nearly $47 bn (€41 bn) for opportunistic real estate investments across its global, Asian, and European funds.