Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP has acquired 588 U.S. shopping mall assets from Australia's debt-laden property group Centro Properties for $9.4 billion in one of the biggest global property deals since the credit crisis. Centro confirmed on Tuesday it had agreed to sell its U.S. assets to Blackstone as part of a major restructure, marking Blackstone's first major entry into U.S. retail real estate. Blackstone beat rival bidders including Morgan Stanley Real Estate which had teamed up with Starwood Capital Group as well as New York-based NRDC, a source familiar with the transaction told Reuters on Monday.
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