Image: ADGM/ For illustrative purposes
Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, and Lunate, the Abu Dhabi-based global investment management firm with more than $110bn in assets under management, have partnered to invest in logistics assets across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The two firms will establish Gulf Logistics Infrastructure Development Enterprise (GLIDE), a new platform focused on developing, acquiring, and managing Grade A logistics assets across the GCC.
Blackstone, which owns more than 1.2 billion square feet of logistics assets globally, will combine its global experience with Lunate’s regional investment network and expertise.
Additional strategic partners from the GCC are expected to join GLIDE, which will operate with dedicated teams across the region to support its growth.
Blackstone and Lunate platform, GLIDE, will focus on greenfield developments
The partners said demand for logistics space in the GCC is expanding rapidly, driven by economic growth, the rise of e-commerce, and manufacturing activity. However, a shortage of modern, efficient Grade A logistics facilities that meet international standards has created strong investment opportunities.
Targetting $5bn in high-quality warehouse assets, GLIDE will focus on greenfield developments, selective portfolio acquisitions, and sale-and-leaseback transactions with leading regional businesses.
“The profound economic transformation underway in the GCC, driven by pro-growth policies, favourable demographic shifts and broad-based economic diversification, is creating powerful momentum for sectors like logistics,” said Jon Gray, president and COO at Blackstone. “We are thrilled to partner with Lunate to combine our investment expertise and deep logistics experience with their strong GCC presence and capabilities to build GLIDE, a pan-regional logistics platform at scale.”
Khalifa Al Suwaidi, managing partner at Lunate, said, “GLIDE will offer our clients and investors access to compelling investments in high-quality logistics assets and support the development of new infrastructure to drive growth across the GCC. This partnership combines global scale with regional expertise to unlock a market ready for transformation.”
