American multinational private equity group Blackstone is acquiring Singapore-based logistics provider GLP for $18.7 billion, according to media reports.
The deal also includes debt, where Blackstone will take in $8 billion in net debt. With that, the acquired assets will be divided into two different units which will be controlled by the US group.
The transaction was announced on Sunday. After the sale, GLP will invest its efforts in expanding its presence in China, America, and Europe.
Global investors are spending billions of dollars to acquire companies in the logistics sector. One reason for the accelerated acquisitions is because of the growing demand in e-commerce.
Ken Caplan, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate, said, “Logistics is our highest conviction global investment theme today, and we look forward to building on our existing portfolio to meet the growing e-commerce demand.”
In 2017, Blackstone sold its European warehouse firm Logicor to China Investment Corporation $13.8 billion. The deal allowed Blackstone to strengthen its presence in China.
Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991. Anthony Myers, Blackstone’s Head of Real Estate Europe, said, “We built Logicor through over 50 acquisitions to be a premier pan European logistics real estate company. It will now have an excellent new long term owner.”