Blackstone Real Estate Announces Signing of Binding MOU for an Eight-Hotel Portfolio in Japan’s Top Tourist Destinations

25 March 2021

TOKYO, March 25, 2021 – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced the signing of a binding MOU by Blackstone Real Estate’s funds with Kintetsu Group Holdings, one of Japan’s largest railway companies, for an eight-hotel portfolio in Japan. The hotels are concentrated in Japan’s top tourist destinations including Kyoto, Osaka, and Fukuoka, as well as in the Greater Osaka and Nagoya regions.

Chris Heady, Chairman of Asia Pacific and Head of Real Estate Asia, said: “This is a unique opportunity that grants Blackstone access to a sizeable, high-quality hotel portfolio in Japan’s top hospitality markets, and we’re thrilled that Kintetsu has chosen to partner with us. This transaction marks Blackstone’s third corporate carve out in Japan, a market that has seen its investment landscape transform over the years as corporations increasingly look to divest their non-core businesses with a trusted partner. We’re confident in our global hospitality expertise, scale, and strong local team on the ground, to help bring these properties to the next phase of development and position them for future success.”

The portfolio consists of three hotels in prime locations: Miyako Kyoto Hachijo across Kyoto station; Universal City, adjacent to Universal Studios Japan, the second-most attended theme park in Japan; and the newly-built Miyako Hakata next to Hakata station. In addition, three upscale hotels and two resort hotels are located within the Greater Osaka and Nagoya regions.

Daisuke Kitta, Head of Real Estate Japan, said: “We are very pleased that an established company like Kintetsu selected us as their partner on these marquee assets. Our team has established a great relationship with the Kintetsu management team over the past few months, and we look forward to working closely with the experienced teams to further create value for the properties. This is also another step towards expanding our footprint in Japan and diversifying our portfolio. Last year, we had a record year despite a challenging environment and our Real Estate business invested $5.2 billion in Japan in the year alone. The reputation that Blackstone has built in Japan over the years has enabled us to partner with some of the most well-respected corporations in Japan including Kintetsu and help grow their businesses.”

Blackstone has been an active investor in the Japanese real estate market since 2010. Last year, the firm had a record year in Japan with $7.3 billion in investments across real estate and private equity, including the biggest real estate deal ever and the largest private equity deal in the country since 2017. Blackstone announced two corporate carve outs in Japan last year: the acquisition of Takeda Consumer Healthcare in August 2020 by the Private Equity team and the acquisition of the real estate business from Isetan Mitsukoshi in November 2020.

Travel and leisure is a strong conviction investment theme for the firm, where it has global expertise and a solid record. The firm’s past investments include the acquisition of the real estate assets of Bellagio, one of the most iconic resorts on the Las Vegas Strip; transformation of Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, leveraging the expertise across multiple disciplines to streamline operations, benefit the local economy, and redesign the property into an iconic asset in the Last Vegas Strip; and acquisition of Cirsa, a leading game operator in Europe and Latin America.

Blackstone Real Estate
Blackstone is a global leader in real estate investing. Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and has $187 billion of investor capital under management. Blackstone is one of the largest property owners in the world, owning and operating assets across every major geography and sector, including logistics, multifamily and single-family housing, office, hospitality and retail. Our opportunistic funds seek to acquire undermanaged, well-located assets across the world. Blackstone’s Core+ strategy invests in substantially stabilized real estate globally through regional open-ended funds focused on high-quality assets and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (BREIT), a non-listed REIT that invests in U.S. income-generating assets. Blackstone Real Estate also operates one of the leading global real estate debt businesses, providing comprehensive financing solutions across the capital structure and risk spectrum, including management of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE: BXMT).

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Christopher Heady

Sr. Managing Director

Christopher Heady is the Chairman of Asia Pacific and the Head of Real Estate Asia. Mr. Heady is based in Hong Kong and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Real Estate group’s investment activities and personnel in Asia.

Mr. Heady joined Blackstone in 2000 and has been involved in a variety of real estate acquisitions and initiatives in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Heady was with Morgan Stanley in London and New York, where he was involved in real estate private equity. Mr. Heady received a AB in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, where he graduated with honors.

Daisuke Kitta

Sr. Managing Director

Daisuke Kitta is the Head of Real Estate Japan based in Tokyo, and he is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Real Estate group’s investment activities in Japan. Since joining Blackstone in 2008, Mr. Kitta has been involved in analyzing various real estate investment opportunities in Japan.

Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Kitta worked at Deutsche Bank, where he was responsible for originating and executing real estate transactions in Japan.

Mr. Kitta received a degree in Economics from Nihon University and graduated with a B.S. from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University.