Staff wanted: Blackstone establishes logistics platform Proxity based in Frankfurt

Blackstone is establishing a Europe-wide logistics platform based in Frankfurt am Main. Operating under the name Proxity, the company will operate and develop logistics properties in Europe's most economically important metropolitan regions.

The US investment company's platform initially comprises a portfolio of approximately 500 existing properties and development projects with a total of just over seven million square meters of rentable space. All properties are owned by real estate funds managed by Blackstone. The value of the portfolio has not been disclosed.

"Logistics is one of our core strategic themes worldwide. The sector continues to benefit from extremely stable long-term fundamentals," explained James Seppala, Head of Real Estate Europe at Blackstone.

Proxity's management will operate in Continental Europe, Northern Europe, and Ireland, and will expand its real estate portfolio in existing and other European markets as part of its planned growth. Full operations are expected to commence in early 2026. Recruitment efforts have already begun in Germany and other European markets.

Blackstone is looking for staff

The management team consists of Guido Piñol as CEO, Jonas Kriebel as CFO, and Yvo Postleb as COO. Piñol and Kriebel previously headed Officefirst, an investor and asset manager for office properties in Germany. Postleb was previously head of Germany at the real estate service provider Cushman & Wakefield.

Blackstone moved into over 1,300 square meters of space in the Omniturm in Frankfurt in 2023. A 20-person team, led by Juergen Pinker and Jurij Puth, works here with a focus on private equity, real estate, and private debt.

According to Blackstone, structuring the company as a standalone platform offers several advantages. On the one hand, it allows the company to attract qualified specialists from various industries. On the other hand, it opens up options for the future, such as further development of the platform or possibly a partial or complete sale of the company.

Blackstone pursued a similar strategy in 2017 with its logistics platform Logicore, which it sold to the China Investment Corporation for $12 billion. The US company currently operates Indurent, a UK-focused platform, and Mileway, another platform with a broader European focus, including the UK.