Voracious industrial real estate buyer Ares Management Corp. has closed its latest blockbuster deal.

The Century City-based alternative investment manager acquired an expansive 36-property portfolio from Swedish firm EQT Real Estate for about $650 million last week. EQT will hand over 7.3 million square feet across 13 states and 18 markets, mostly concentrated in Illinois and Ohio.

The deal is the second in four months between the firms, which have been the two most active industrial buyers in the U.S. over the past two years, CoStar reported. EQT and Ares had closely matched deal totals of just over $9 billion in that period, outpacing Blackstone’s $7.5 billion. 

Commercial real estate performance remains weak in 2026, per Fitch Ratings, amid waning consumer confidence, peaking office delinquencies and higher operating expenses. Industrial is stabilizing, though, as demand recovers and supply eases – despite vacancy rising over nearly three years to 7.6% in the year’s first quarter, CoStar data shows. 

Deepening presence

Ares will inherit 38 unique, largely creditworthy tenants with the purchase, including Walmart, FedEx and Nike, according to a Fitch Ratings analysis. A concentration of 33 single-tenant leases across the 36 properties could mean volatile cash flow, however, if tenants vacate at lease rollover.

The portfolio’s current rents are 32% below the weighted average submarket rent, National Association of Realtors and CoStar data shows. But Ares “expects future NOI growth as leases roll and rents are marked to market,” Fitch Ratings reports.