Blackstone continues to strengthen its position in Spain’s residential sector following their acquisition of Spanish REIT, Hispania. The NYSE listed private equity fund, which is led in Spain by Diego San José, has agreed to buy 50.01% of Testa Residencial for €948M through their subsidiary, Tropic Real Estate Holding. According to the buyer’s pricing, the Spanish REIT would be valued at c. €1.9 billion.
The vendors were Merlin, Santander and BBVA who bought the portfolio back in July 2015 from Sacyr. The key stakeholders had originally planned an exit strategy which consisted in listing the company in May but had to postpone it to July due to political instability and adverse market conditions. Testa is currently the leading company in Spain’s residential rental market with a portfolio of 10,615 units, annualized gross income of 85 million euros and an occupancy rate of 91.4%.