Blackstone Group has raised roughly $5 billion for its fifth general real estate fund, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, more than double the size of its previous fund.

Blackstone's new fund highlights the money pouring into private equity firms from institutional investors seeking the buyout industry's impressive profits.

Blackstone on Monday, together with Brookfield Properties Corp. , one of Manhattan's biggest office landlords, formed a joint venture to buy commercial landlord Trizec and Trizec Canada Inc. for $8.9 billion. That deal marked the eighth time in two years that Blackstone acquired a publicly traded real estate entity.

Blackstone raised $2 billion for its fourth general real estate fund in 2003. In addition to real estate, Blackstone has a general buyout fund, a hedge fund of funds and several other fund vehicles. In March, Blackstone agreed to buy CarrAmerica Realty Corp. , a commercial real estate investment trust, for about $5.6 billion -- the largest public-to-private REIT deal ever struck.

In February, Blackstone's real estate group agreed to buy MeriStar Hospitality Corp. for $2.6 billion. Last June, Blackstone bought Wyndham International Inc. for $1.44 billion and last November it bought hotel chain La Quinta Properties Inc. for $2.28 billion.

By M. Sese
http://realestatepress.org