News summary
Defense - One of the factors that helped the company during the 2008 crisis was having enough cash to support its existing investments, repurchasing debt or taking over the management of the properties. This is the company's position once again, with US$ 30 billion of capital available in funds across all sectors to support existing assets.
Sales and Liquidity - It is not a good time to sell assets, as there is a lot of uncertainty and debt financing is difficult. Sales in the first quarter totaled US$ 2.5 billion in the first quarter, against US$ 3.1 billion in the same period last year.
On the offensive - It is still too early to take this stance in the real estate market; as experience from past crises shows, the first year after the shock is a slow period for deployment, and then things begin to pick up—and having capital at these moments is a major competitive advantage, by not depending on financing. The company has about US$ 45 billion in real estate funds for acquisitions.
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Original title - Blackstone’s Coronavirus Playbook
