Blackstone's $3.1 billion sale of nearly 14 million square feet of industrial properties to Prologis announced yesterday will provide pricing transparency to a sector "where wide bid-ask spreads have persisted for several quarters," write Green Street analysts Vince Tibone and Jessica Zheng in a research note about the blockbuster deal. They also note that "a comp of this size and prominence could help thaw the industrial private transactions market." 

The deal comes as industrial real estate transaction volumes have declined more than 70% year over year in the first quarter, according to Green Street's sales comp database, providing little new data for buyers and sellers seeking to establish current pricing.

As the companies announced, the acquisition price represents an approximately 4% cap rate in the first year and a 5.75% cap rate when adjusting to today's market rents and "appears to be fairly representative of a high-quality, national portfolio," Tibone and Zheng write.