Blackstone's Real Estate

Then there's Blackstone's other announcement this year of investing $4.25 to acquire the Bellagio resort.

That makes me feel a lot better with regard to the cap rate trends we're seeing in Las Vegas.

BREIT also just acquired industrial REIT WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust for $3.1 billion. And BX recently launched BEPIF, a new vehicle focused on European real estate, with inflows to start in Q4-21.

Having recently returned from Paris and Barcelona, I'll be interested to see the progress of this new alternative.

Here are the facts and figures we have on this Blackstone segment:

- Total AUM Increased 31% to $188.4 billion, with inflows of $20 billion and $65.1 billion over the LTM.
- Total equity rose to $8.4 billion life to date and total global direct lending AUM to $47.9 billion.
- Its latest mezzanine/opportunistic strategy had $1 billion of inflows for total investable capital of $8.7 billion.
- The company closed on three new collateralized loan obligations - one in the U.S. and two in Europe - for $1.6 billion and closed five CLO refinancings and resets (three U.S. and two European) for $2.3 billion.
- Realizations were $3.5 billion and $16.6 billion over the LTM.
- Capital deployed was a record $11.2 billion in the quarter, driven by $8.6 billion from U.S. direct lending and $29.7 billion over the LTM. And it committed an additional $11.2 billion that wasn't yet deployed in the quarter.

In BX's credit business, the company saw $65 billion of inflows in the last 12 months. And demand continues to be robust for direct lending and floating-rate liquid strategies alike.

The company's actively managed loan ETF - SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ETF (NYSEARCA:SRLN) - is now the largest of its kind in the world at nearly $8 billion with a current yield of 4.6%.

Blackstone once again showed great numbers here, as shown below:

- Total AUM increased 22% to $231.5 billion, with inflows of $7.4 billion and $27.5 billion over the LTM.
- Inflows included $2.1 billion for the fourth Blackstone Tactical Opportunities fund and $766 million for the second Corporate Private Equity Asia fund.
- Realizations were $10.8 billion for the quarter, including proceeds from Mphasis and Blue Yonder sales, and $35.2 billion over the LTM.
- Capital deployed was $10.2 billion in the quarter - for such sources as Ellucian, Sphera, and Hello Sunshine - and $33.5 billion over the LTM.

The company committed an additional $8.2 billion that wasn't yet deployed in the quarter, including for investments in Chamberlain Group and Interplex.

As for appreciation, its corporate private equity increased 9.9% in the quarter and 49.1% over the LTM. Tactical opportunities increased 2.3% in the quarter and 35.2% over the LTM. And secondaries increased 17.0% in the quarter and 52.8% over the LTM.

I was also intrigued to see BX's 65% interest in Grey Wolf Resorts for $2.9 billion. (Centerbridge, a private investment management firm, will retain the remaining stake).

Incidentally, VICI also has a hand in the pie, so to speak. The REIT recently announced it had entered into an arrangement with Great Wolf Resorts, in which it will provide some financing to build and develop Great Wolf Lodge resorts throughout the U.S.

First up, VICI will provide a $79.5 million mezzanine loan with an 8% interest rate to help develop the $250 million Great Wolf Lodge Mid-Atlantic in Perryville, Maryland. That project should be completed by the summer of 2023.

Next up, let's look at these hedge fund solutions numbers. They might not be as lengthy as the other divisions, but we still like to see what Blackstone is doing here.