Investment firm Blackstone announced that two of its funds together have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire International Market Centers (IMC).
Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities will acquire IMC from Bain Capital Private Equity and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. Blackstone added that Fireside Investments would partner with it in the acquisition.
IMC operates 12.2 million square feet of exhibition space in High Point, NC, and Las Vegas, NV. The company operates the key buildings among those hosting the High Point Market and the Las Vegas World Market Center, which hosts the Las Vegas Market.
The parties did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.
“This marks an exciting time for International Market Centers,” Robert Maricich, CEO, IMC, said in announcing the acquisition. “While Bain Capital and Oaktree have been great partners for the past six years, we look forward to this new relationship and our next phase of growth. Blackstone is a firm with a strong track record of enabling transformational change and shares our long-term vision for the business.”
Andrea Serra, a managing director in Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities group, noted, “IMC has an excellent management team that has built a high-quality business and leader in the furniture, showroom and gift industry exhibition space.”
Tyler Henritze, a senior managing director in Blackstone’s Real Estate group, said, “By leveraging the scale of Blackstone’s platform and expertise in real estate investing, we look forward to partnering with IMC to help drive the company’s continued growth in the years ahead.”