Blackstone's property focus pays off

AS Blackstone's top executives fan out across the globe, pitching their services at elite gatherings of investors, they invariably tell the crowd: Hope you guys like this hotel, because we own it.

When it comes to real estate, Blackstone owns a lot more as well.

The private equity firm, while better known for its huge buyouts in the deal boom before the financial crisis, is the largest private sector landlord in the US. And that was the case even before General Electric announced on Friday that it would be selling a US$14 billion chunk of its real estate assets to Blackstone's fast-growing property division, as part of the industrial conglomerate's retreat from finance.

Blackstone's bold bet on real estate is worldwide: skyscrapers in New York and Chicago, sprawling malls and luxury hotels in Europe, Asia and the Middle East and, recently, close to 50,000 ren…