Blackstone upbeat on real estate opportunities, raises USD 10.9b fund.

Private equity and real estate firm Blackstone Group raised USD 10.9 billion to invest in real estate, and said there should be attractive opportunities ahead, Reuters reported. Blackstone said it had raised a total of nine real estate funds with total capital commitments of USD 25.7b. The last one is called Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI. Previous real estate investments Blackstone has made include Equity Office Properties (EOP) and Hilton Hotels Corp. Blackstone said that the new fund would allow it to enter new markets and expand globally.