M&A

2 November, 2009

Blackstone to buy stakes in malls for about $195mln

* Blackstone to buy stakes in two American malls

* Properties are in Oregon, Florida

* Latest property deal, follows London's Broadgate

NEW YORK, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Blackstone Group (BX.N) is to buy stakes in two of Glimcher Realty Trust's (GRT.N) malls for around $195 million in cash and debt, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the news. The paper said that under the terms of the deal, Blackstone would pay about $39 million in cash and $75 million in assumed debt for a share of the 1.4-million-square-foot Lloyd Center mall in Portland, Oregon.

The paper said it will also pay about $27 million in cash and assume about $54 million in debt for its stake in the 1.1-million-square-foot WestShore Plaza mall in Tampa, Florida.

Blackstone, which has a huge real estate portfolio, said in September it was starting to see attractive opportunities in real estate again, after waiting on the sidelines for deals since 2007.

It said at the time it had $12 billion of capital to invest in real estate, and planned to ratchet up the number of deals.

Later that month, it struck a deal to buy a 50 percent stake in City of London office complex Broadgate, one of London's largest office landmarks, from British Land (BLND.L).

Source: http://www.reuters.com