Blackstone Group has already taken public its biggest U.S. real estate investment from the property market's boom. Now, it's planning to sell shares in two companies created in the wake of the crash.
Blackstone on Monday filed a confidential notice for an initial public offering of IndCor Properties Inc., an industrial landlord it began building in 2010 by accumulating warehouses. Blackstone also is planning an IPO as soon as next year for Invitation Homes LP, the owner of more than 45,000 rental homes that began in 2012, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Blackstone, which bought assets at discounts after the financial crisis depressed prices, is now selling shares in more of its larger property units as stocks hover close to highs. The firm's past offerings include last year's IPOs of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and shopping center owner Brixmor Property Group Inc.
“Valuations in general have never been higher, so depending on the sector, it makes an abundance of sense to take an operating company public,” said Eric Frankel, an analyst at Green Street Advisors, a property research firm.
Blackstone is stepping up its real estate stock sales as it prepares to raise its next global property fund. Private equity firms typically sell investments from older funds as they prepare to raise new ones. The sales enable the companies to realize gains from profitable investments and return money to investors.
Blackstone created Invitation Homes by buying foreclosed homes at auction after the housing market collapsed. It has spent more than $8 billion buying and renovating properties.
Peter Rose, a Blackstone spokesman, declined to comment on the company's plans for Invitation Homes.
IndCor now owns more than 110 million square feet of warehouses throughout the country. It will be the largest U.S. real estate investment trust with purely industrial properties. The number of shares to be sold and price range haven't been determined, IndCor said Monday.
The company plans to raise about $1 billion, which would value IndCor at about $8 billion, a person with knowledge of the plans said last month.
IndCor and Invitation Homes would be Blackstone's fifth and sixth U.S. real estate IPOs since October 2013.
