UK's Warehouse REIT shifts allegiance to Blackstone over Tritax

(Reuters) -Britain's Warehouse REIT recommended Blackstone's sweetened bid to its shareholders on Friday, withdrawing support for industry peer Tritax Big Box REIT's offer for the logistics specialist.

Blackstone raised its offer for the London-listed company to about 489 million pounds ($662.20 million) on Thursday, outbidding Tritax's cash-and-stock offer of 485.2 million pounds.

Logistics has remained attractive to property investors in an otherwise lacklustre real estate market, due to robust demand from eCommerce retailers seeking warehouse spaces to better service their clients.

Real estate investment trusts – listed funds dedicated to property – have also seen a wave of dealmaking as they try to bulk up to improve profitability in tough trading conditions.

Tritax on Thursday said it continued to believe that its buyout proposal was a "compelling proposition" for Warehouse shareholders.

The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Friday.

($1 = 0.7384 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru and Iain Withers in London; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)