Blackstone $1.1 billion acquisition of majority stake in Testa Residencial

Overview:

• American private equity house, Blackstone, has completed the purchase of 50.01% of Testa Residencial from Merlin Properties, Banco Santander and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), in a transaction worth approximately $1.1 billion.
• Testa is the biggest manager of rental homes across Spain, with 10,615 real estate assets in its portfolio and a turnover of $100 million in yearly gross income. Most of the firm's shares will now be owned by Tropic Real Estate Holding, a company managed by Blackstone.
• Properties owned by Testa are primarily located in Madrid, although the firm also has a presence in other regional cities in the country such as Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Palma, San Sebastián and Valencia, among others.
• Blackstone will pay around 50% of the offer price at the end of December 2018, with the balance to be paid in two further installments in 2019. Blackstone has committed to buying the remaining shares.

Prin Shasiharan - Researcher