(Bloomberg)—Blackstone Group LP is exploring a sale of its European industrial-property unit Logicor in a deal that could value the company at more than 10 billion euros ($11 billion) including debt, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Blackstone may decide on whether to proceed with an initial public offering or a disposal in the coming months, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details aren’t public. Logicor, which has warehouses in countries including France, the U.K. and Germany, could seek an equity valuation of about 5.5 billion euros in a listing, they said.
Advisers are speaking with Blackstone, but the firm hasn’t mandated anyone yet, the people said. Representatives for Blackstone and Logicor declined to comment.
If Blackstone lists 30 percent of Logicor, it could be one of the largest IPOs in European real estate. Russian property developer PIK Group PJSC raised $1.85 billion in a London international listing in 2007, making it the largest IPO among companies that are trading, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Blackstone, which created Logicor in 2012, is seeking to cash out as demand for European logistics properties from investors and tenants grows. Companies signed leases for the most industrial space ever in the region in 2015, pushing rents for the best properties up 2.6 percent and property values up almost 12 percent, according to CBRE Group Inc.
Logicor, based in London, has about 12.7 million square meters (137 million square feet) of logistic space across Europe, rented to companies including Amazon.com Inc.
To contact the reporters on this story: Dalia Fahmy in Berlin at [email protected] ;Ruth David in London at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Neil Callanan at [email protected] ;Aaron Kirchfeld at [email protected] Andrew Blackman
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