As markets stumble out of the gate in the new year, Blackstone (BX) took a big step to address difficulties at BREIT, its $69 billion public REIT. BX reached agreement with the University of California whereby the university agreed to invest $4 billion into the fund and lock up that money for five years with a limited two-year withdrawal period afterward. In exchange, BX agreed to backstop the investment with $1 billion of BREIT shares that it owns if the university fails to earn 11.25% annually after fees, an extremely high return (though BREIT has earned more than that since it opened in 2017, but then again that period was a bubble).
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