Blackstone Group announced the closing of two Asia-focused funds with combined commitments of $9.4 billion.
Blackstone announced in a news release Wednesday the final close of Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia II at its hard cap. Together with commitments from Blackstone and its affiliates, the fund has $7.1 billion in commitments, a record for an Asia-focused real estate fund, the news release said.
A spokeswoman for Blackstone couldn't immediately provide further details.
Ken Caplan, senior managing director and global co-head of Blackstone's real estate business said in the release that the fund's unprecedented size will give Blackstone the “flexibility to pursue a range of opportunities and commit capital with speed and scale.”
Large U.S. pension funds making commitments to Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia II include the $206.9 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, and the $11.7 billion South Dakota Investment Council, which committed up to $300 million each; the $78.1 billion Virginia Retirement System, which committed $150 million; and the $24.5 billion San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System, which committed $100 million.
Separately, Blackstone also announced the final close of its first Asian buyout fund, Blackstone Capital Partners Asia, at roughly $2.3 billion.
Blackstone said in a separate release that the final close amount, combined with associated commitments from Blackstone's global buyout fund, leaves the firm with “a minimum of $3.8 billion to invest in Asia.”
U.S. pension funds making commitments to the fund this year include the $129.1 billion Washington State Investment Board, Olympia, which committed up to $200 million, and the $4.2 billion Houston Firefighters' Relief and Retirement Fund, which committed $30 million.