Blackstone Plans $1.26 Billion Knowledge REIT Stake Sale

Lottomatica (LTMC) will acquire Cirsa (CIRSA) to form a gaming giant, with Blackstone (BX) as the top shareholder. The combined entity will list on Euronext Milan and Spanish exchanges. Cirsa shareholders will receive 0.668 new LTMC shares per CIRSA share. Pre-merger, Cirsa will pay a €262M dividend. The deal aims to generate €115M in pre-tax synergies and return €4B to shareholders post-merger.

Foreign investors, including Goldman Sachs and Blackstone, are capitalizing on Korea's hotel boom driven by a surge in tourists. They are acquiring and rebranding three- and four-star hotels, with transactions reaching 1.1 trillion won in the first half of the year. The average daily rate for three-star hotels rose 69% from 2020 to 127,331 won in 2024, according to the Korea Hotel Association.

Oppenheimer raised its price target for Blackstone (BX) to $171 from $140. The company plans to sell up to $1.25B in shares of Knowledge Realty Trust. Blackstone, along with Wellington and Vanguard, launched two retail funds for private assets.

Blackstone Inc. is selling up to 11.1 million units (25.03%) of its stake in Knowledge Realty Trust, valued at $1.25 billion. The sale, priced at a 4.7% discount, will reduce Blackstone's ownership to 21.5% if fully exercised, making Sattva Group the largest shareholder with 32%.

NVIDIA (NVDA) partnered with six financial firms, including Blackstone (BX), to launch 'compute financing platforms' aiming to raise over $500 billion for AI infrastructure. NVIDIA may backstop 25% of deals. Blackstone's president sees AI compute as a financeable asset class. NVIDIA shares fell after the announcement, erasing $70 billion in market value, amid skepticism about AI spending.

The European Commission approved Blackstone's plan to invest up to EUR 2 billion in Eurowind Energy, a Danish renewable energy developer. Blackstone will gain a minority stake and support the company's growth.