Blackstone in talks to buy three malls to push retail realty play

US-based private equity major Blackstone Group is stepping up efforts to spread its retail real estate assets footprint across the country and is currently in talks to acquire three retails malls, said two persons familiar with the development. These proposed acquisitions spread over around 2 million sq ft will push Blackstone’s retail portfolio from 5.1 million sq ft to over 7 million sq ft, making it the largest retail mall operator in India. Blackstone, through its retail subsidiary Nexus Malls, has charted out an aggressive plan to expand its current portfolio of eight retail malls acquired over the past two years. The private equity major is already the largest investor of commercial real estate in India with over 56 million sq ft portfolio and is now looking to take control of more retail real estate assets.