Blackstone, the world’s largest real estate investor, intends to buy PS Business Parks for $7.6 billion, including debt, the company announced in late April. Blackstone said its real estate affiliates will pay $187.50 per share to PS Business Parks shareholders as part of the take-private deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. The price per share represents a 12% premium over the price of the stock on April 22.
PS Business Parks is a California-based real estate investment trust (REIT) which operates business parks, office buildings, and multifamily and industrial properties in California, Texas, Florida, and northern Virginia. Blackstone has been an active buyer of REITs, fueling in part a rise in transaction volume to $140 billion in 2021, up from $17 billion in 2020, real estate services provider JLL reports.
Following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, mergers and acquisitions in the real estate sector boomed, reaching a record high in 2021. A strong housing market, solid economic recovery, and the availability of cheap capital from low interest rates fueled activity.
So far this year, Blackstone has purchased three REITs, including student housing giant American Campus Communities Inc. for $12.8 billion and multifamily housing company Preferred Apartment Communities for $5.8 billion in cash. In January, it announced a deal to buy non-publicly traded Resource REIT Inc. for $3.7 billion.
