Blackstone raising European property fund

US private-equity firm Blackstone is raising a European property fund of up to €3.5 billion (£2.8 billion) to take advantage to falling values in the sector.

According to the Financial Times, the fund shows that Blackstone believes there to be value in the sector despite reductions in property shares.

"Our real estate segment is currently in the process of raising our third non-US real estate fund that will focus on European real estate investments," a statement from the company said.

The fund would be Blackstone's third internationally focused real estate fund and will follow record contributions of $10.9 billion (£5.5 million) from investors to the Blackstone Group's Real Estate Partners VI fund, which closed at the beginning of April.

"We believe that there should be attractive investment opportunities for this capital given the market dislocation that exists today," Jonathan Gray, senior managing director and co-head of Blackstone's real estate group said at the closure of the fund.

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