US private credit giant reportedly eyeing an 11-figure takeover of domestic mortgage book
US private credit giant Blackstone is set to acquire HSBC’s $30 billion-plus Australian loan book, according to an AFR report.
If confirmed, it would represent the largest-ever takeover of an Australian loan book by foreign private credit.
While HSBC declined to comment, it follows a string of foreign interest in Australian mortgages, including KKR’s acquisition (alongside a consortium including non-bank lender Pepper Money) of the RAMS portfolio from Westpac.
It was first reported that HSBC was mulling a sale of its Australian mortgage book in July 2025, but powerful HSBC investors have been gunning for the bank to divest its non-core operations for years.
Previous HSBC loan book suitors included Macquarie Bank and NAB, although neither bank ended up pursuing an acquisition.
Australia is HSBC’s seventh-largest market, behind Hong Kong, the UK, the US, Singapore, Mainland China and France. As of 31 December 2025, it had over 34,000 clients in Australia and had just shy of US$26 billion ($37 billion) on its personal lending books, the vast majority being first lien residential mortgages.
“Targeted strategic reviews of our retail businesses in Australia, Indonesia and Egypt remain underway on which no decisions have been made,” HSBC said in its 2025 annual report. The bank added that it “remains committed” to its higher-margin wholesale banking activities in these markets.
MPA has also reached out to Blackstone for a comment.
Blackstone’s controversial US operations
Blackstone is a powerhouse in the US mortgage market and is widely considered the country’s biggest landlord.
Blackstone Mortgage Trust (BXMT), the firm's publicly traded commercial mortgage REIT, focuses on real estate credit investments across North America, Europe, and Australia. The portfolio has shifted away from office exposure toward multifamily and industrial assets, which now make up 51% of total loans, while remaining 98% performing.
Behind BXMT sits Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS), which manages US$78 billion in investor capital across more than 170 professionals and gives BXMT access to over 700 borrower, bank, and broker relationships, with 86% of originations involving repeat borrowers.
"America needs more homes, and we are proud to be part of the solution,” Tim Johnson, global head of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, said earlier this year. “Our homebuilder lending platform will help deliver thousands of new homes across the United States, directly addressing the critical housing supply gap in communities where people want to live.”
However, critics argue that institutional buyers like Blackstone reduce the supply of homes available for individual purchase, pushing up prices and forcing more people into renting – much like the investor-versus-first-home buyer debate happening in Australia.
In 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing wrote to Blackstone alleging its practices had "devastating consequences for tenants," citing aggressive rent increases, processing and late fees, and eviction practices.
A letter signed by rapporteurs Surya Deva and Leilani Farha, and addressed to Blackstone chief executive Stephen Schwarzman wrote: “We would like to share with you our concern over recent structural developments that the Blackstone Group L.P. (Blackstone) helped to instigate whereby unprecedented amounts of global capital are being invested in housing as security for financial instruments and traded on global markets, which is having devastating consequences for people.
“We are referring to the ‘financialization of housing’ and the dominant role you play in financial markets through residential real estate.”
Private credit under the spotlight
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has sharpened its focus on the private credit sector, positioning it as an enforcement priority heading into 2026.
Between October 2024 and August 2025, ASIC reviewed 28 private credit funds – spanning listed, unlisted, retail, and wholesale vehicles – ranging from established managers like Metrics Credit Partners and La Trobe Financial to newer global entrants such as KKR and a range of smaller local players.
While the regulator stressed that these reviews did not imply misconduct, they signalled an intent to increase scrutiny of the industry, with enhanced monitoring to continue via data collection, analysis, and surveillance.
ASIC is focusing on fees, margin structures and conflict-of-interest management, particularly within wholesale funds concentrated in real estate lending.
ASIC chair Joe Longo said in September 2025 that the sector needed to lift its practices to protect confidence and market integrity, warning the regulator "would not hesitate to intervene where progress falls short”.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has separately flagged rising default risk in the sector, noting Australian private credit funds carry heavy, concentrated exposure to real estate and construction – a concentration ASIC has likewise identified through its own supervisory work.
