Private equity giant Blackstone has raised more than $6bn (EUR 4.6 bn) for its latest global fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII, the successor fund to its highly successful fund BREP VI, a source close to the company told PropertyEU.

The new fund has a target size of $10bn and will invest primarily in the US and Asia, according to the source. It is expected to invest opportunistically, including distressed debt. It is likely to close its capital raising in February 2013.

Subsequently, BREP VII is on track to broadly match the $11bn raised by its predecessor, BREP VI, which is 90% invested in the US. However, the global fund can co-invest up to 20% of the capital in Blackstone’s European real estate deals.

Blackstone also has a European fund, BREP Europe III, which was raised in 2009 and still has EUR3bn of capital to invest. BREP VII is the private equity group’s 10th private equity fund.