GE Selling Real Estate, Dismantling GE Capital

Fairfield, CT-based General Electric (GE) announced this week that it is selling the bulk of its GE Capital banking business in an attempt to simplify the conglomerate and concentrate on the best-performing segments. Blackstone and Wells Fargo also announced that they had signed agreements to purchase most of the assets of GE Capital Real Estate in a transaction valued at approximately $23 billion. The transaction breaks down as follows:

• Wells Fargo has agreed to purchase performing first mortgage commercial real estate loans valued at $9.0 billion in the United States, UK and Canada.
• Blackstone's latest flagship global real estate fund, BREP VIII, has agreed to purchase the US equity assets for $3.3 billion. These assets are primarily office properties in Southern California, Seattle and Chicago.
• Blackstone's European real estate fund, BREP Europe IV, has agreed to purchase the European equity real estate assets, for €1.9 billion. These consist of office, logistics and retail assets, largely in the UK, France and Spain. The logistics assets will be integrated into Blackstone's European logistics platform, Logicor, and the retail assets into its European retail platform, Multi.
• BREDS, Blackstone's real estate debt fund, has agreed to purchase performing first mortgage loans in Mexico and Australia for $4.2 billion.
• BXMT, Blackstone's publicly traded commercial mortgage REIT, has agreed to purchase a $4.6 billion portfolio of first mortgage loans primarily in the US with Wells Fargo providing the financing.

Jon Gray, Global Head of Real Estate for Blackstone, said, "We are delighted to partner with GE on another major transaction and we thank them for their confidence in us. We also thank Wells Fargo for our longstanding relationship, and for their swift execution on this investment. This transaction clearly demonstrates the unique scale and reach of our real estate platform."

Mark Myers, Head of Commercial Real Estate for Wells Fargo, said, "This is an important transaction in the commercial real estate industry and Wells Fargo is pleased to be working with our colleagues at GE Capital and Blackstone. The portfolio of performing loans we've purchased is a strong addition to our commercial real estate platform in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, which are all active lending markets for us."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

KBS Sells Millennium Tower in Dallas

KBS Realty has sold the 351,683 square-foot Millennium Tower, one of the most prestigious and recognizable office properties in Far North Dallas, to Gaedeke Group, a Dallas-based real estate firm. KBS Realty, which was represented in the sale by the CBRE team of Gary Carr, John Alvarado, Erick Mackey, and Robert Hill, acquired the building in 2008 from RREEF. The sale price and terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Carr, CBRE vice chairman, said the property was highly sought-after by institutional and private investors nationwide. "Millennium Tower is one of the highest quality suburban assets in the city," he said. "We are pleased to see Gaedeke buy it because of the quality of the ownership. This building has always been owned by quality investors."

"We have looked at many buildings through the years, but this one stood out as a premier class office building," says Glenn Lickstein, president of Dallas-based Gaedeke Group. "This is an excellent addition to our existing portfolio of class A office properties."

The 14-story, 351,683-square-foot office building at 15455 N. Dallas Parkway has been institutionally owned since its completion in 2000 by Dallas developer Wynn Jackson. As of January 2014, the property will be 97.8% occupied, with major tenants including Dresser Inc., a subsidiary of General Electric Co. Going forward, leasing will be handled by Belinda Dabliz, vice president at Gaedeke, according to a D Real Estate Daily report. On-site property management will be led by Debra Spears, who previously oversaw Banner Place.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.