Blackstone Acquires WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust For $3.1B

Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc., an externally managed by a subsidiary of Blackstone BX, has announced its acquisition of WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust WPTIF in a $3.1 billion all-cash transaction that includes the assumption of debt.

What Happened: The Toronto-headquartered WPT acquires, develops, manages and owns distribution and logistics properties located in the U.S. The company indirectly owns or manages a portfolio of 109 properties across 19 states consisting of approximately 37.5 million square feet of gross living area.

The transaction price of $22 per unit represents a 17.1% premium to the closing price of WPT’s units on Aug. 6, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the transaction. In the wake of the acquisition, WPT will release its second-quarter financial results on Aug. 11, but will not host a conference call and webcast to discuss financial results and operations for the second quarter.

“We are very proud to enter into a transaction that delivers unitholders a compelling premium to net asset value per unit and our all-time high unit price,” said WPT CEO Scott Frederiksen. Blackstone’s interest in acquiring and investing in the WPT platform is a testament to the quality of our portfolio and capabilities of our team."

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Why It Happened: WPT is the latest company that Blackstone has acquired this year.

Over the prior two months, the company gained a controlling stake in the online learning platform Simplilearn Solutions Pvt. Ltd. for an undisclosed sum, spent $1.4 billion on its purchase of Sphera, a provider of environmental, social and governance software, data, and consulting services, paid $6 billion to acquire Home Partners of America and bought International Data Group, Inc. for $1.3 billion.

Photo: WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust.