by Industrial property is the strongest performing real estate sector this year, with property space in demand from growing e-commerce, food and pharmaceuticals suppliers, and investors rushing to capitalise on the demand.
Research from real estate services group Colliers suggests industrial and logistics assets increased in value by 11.6 per cent in the year to June 30, which put the property sub-class well ahead of the more traditional office and retail investments. Implied yields on Sydney and Melbourne industrial and logistics properties were around 5 per cent, Colliers said.
While it’s early days, Blackstone is understood to be thinking about a $1 billion-odd initial public offering or multi billion dollar sale, making the portfolio one of the biggest potential contenders in the float pipeline for next year.
Investment banks were asked to pitch their trade sale and IPO credentials, sources said, before Blackstone tapped Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan.
Should the portfolio head to the ASX-boards, it would be expected to be pitched as a rare pure-play industrial property sector play and join the likes of Goodman Group and Centuria Industrial REIT in vying for investor attention.
Centuria’s securities are trading at about a 5 per cent yield, while the bigger and globally-focused Goodman is at less than 2 per cent.
It is understood Blackstone told pitching investment banks that it was seeking to have an auction up and running in the first half of next year, which could run alongside an IPO marketing program.
The potential sale comes as investors flocked to the $300 million HomeCo Daily Needs REIT initial public offering in November, which was the biggest property sector listing of this year.
