(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP has struck its biggest deal in Australia, agreeing to buy A$1.52 billion ($1.06 billion) of offices in the central business district.
The transaction comes after New York-based Blackstone last year lost out to Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System's real-estate unit in a A$3.35 billion bidding war for Australia's Investa Office Fund.
Blackstone will take control of the office space above Scentre Group's Westfield mall on Sydney's main shopping strip. Scentre will retain ownership of the mall and Sydney Tower, a 309-meter (1,014-feet) tall landmark housing an observation deck and revolving restaurant.
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Scentre will initially use the proceeds to pay down debt, before embarking on a A$800 million buyback later this year, the company said in a statement Thursday.
Blackstone earlier this month agreed to buy $18.7 billion of U.S. logistics assets from Singapore's GLP Pte in what it says is the world's biggest private-equity real estate deal.
Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, Blackstone has grown to become one of the dominant buyout firms alongside the likes of KKR & Co. and Carlyle Group. In April, the firm reported its assets under management crossed half a trillion, to $512 billion, for the first time.
To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Vercoe in Sydney at pvercoe@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Katrina Nicholas at knicholas2@bloomberg.net
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