Blackstone has raised $15.8bn (鈧�21.3bn) for its eighth global real estate fund.
The investment manager鈥檚 Real Estate Partners VIII vehicle was backed by returning, existing investors from both the US and abroad.
The company had been aiming for a $13bn total raise for Partners VIII, with leverage at 60-65%.
Blackstone鈥檚 two regional opportunistic real estate funds, Real Estate Partners Europe IV and Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia, have $8.2bn and $5bn to invest, respectively.
Jon Gray, Blackstone鈥檚 global head of real estate, said the size of fund VIII gave it the ability to commit capital in scale with 鈥渟peed and certainty鈥�.
Blackstone a 13% premium to acquire a US hotel REIT for $6bn for the fund.
Strategic Hotels & Resorts, which owns 17 American hotels and resorts, is being acquired outright by the private equity group at $14.25 per share in cash.
, Blackstone said it was paying $3.3bn for GE Capital鈥檚 US equity assets on behalf of fund VIII.
