(RTTNews) -  Monday, investment and advisory firm Blackstone Group (BX: News ) announced the clossure of its latest real estate fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe III, or BREP Europe III. The closing brings to the fund total equity capital commitments of over 3.1 billion euros, in comparison to the company's initial intended target of 2.5 billion euros.

According to the company, the fund will target property investments throughout Europe and is composed of commitments from a diversified group of limited partners from around the world.

Chad Pike, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate said, "We are very pleased to have received this further vote of confidence from both existing and new Blackstone investors. BREP Europe III is well positioned to take advantage of the inevitable recapitalization of the property sector. Given the continued deterioration in the global economy and the lagging nature of the real estate market, we will remain disciplined and cautious in deploying this capital over the coming years."

New York-based Blackstone noted that The Park Hill Group, a Blackstone affiliate, assisted in its fund-raising. Since Blackstone started its real estate investment business in 1997, the company has raised a total of over $28 billion.
It was in 1992 that Blackstone formed its Real Estate Group, which closed its first fund with $338 million. Currently, the company's Real Estate business has assets under management of about $23 billion, and is one of the largest operators of hotels, with about 3,800 individual properties and around 615,000 rooms in total.

BX closed Friday's regular trading session at $10.88, down $0.20, on a volume of 1.7 million shares.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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