Blackstone Eyes $2B Fund Stake Sale, Analysts Split on $2B Data Center IPO
BX•Blackstone plans to offload $2B of private fund stakes via a collateralized fund obligation or secondary sale, the largest such deal since Carlyle’s $1.25B transaction. Digital Infrastructure Trust’s $2B IPO drew RBC Outperform at $24; BMO rated Market Perform at $23, citing its $25B pipeline and valuation risks.
1. Private Fund Stake Sale Plan
Blackstone’s Strategic Partners unit is preparing to sell over $2B of private investment fund stakes by packaging them into bonds via a collateralized fund obligation or pursuing a direct secondary sale. This transaction would be the largest in the market since Carlyle’s $1.25B deal, addressing a $4T backlog of unsold assets after rate hikes and valuation pressures.
2. Mixed Analyst Views on Data Center REIT
Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust raised approximately $2B in its May IPO and plans to invest in hyperscale data centers leased to major cloud and AI tenants. RBC assigned an Outperform rating with a $24 target, highlighting the Trust’s $25B acquisition pipeline and landlord relationships, while BMO’s Market Perform at $23 flagged valuation and execution risks associated with its blind-pool structure.
