BREIT 2017 Annual Report

49 The Adviser may face conflicts of interests in choosing our service providers and certain service providers may provide services to the Dealer Manager, the Adviser or Blackstone on more favorable terms than those payable by us. Certain advisors and other service providers or their affiliates (including accountants, administrators, lenders, bankers, brokers, attorneys, consultants, title agents, property managers and investment or commercial banking firms) that provide goods or services to us, Blackstone and/or certain entities in which we have an investment may also provide goods or services to or have business, personal, financial or other relationships with Blackstone and its other businesses. For example, certain portfolio properties may enter into agreements regarding group procurement (such as a group purchasing organization), benefits management, purchase of title and/or other insurance policies (which will from time to time be pooled and discounted due to scale) from a third party or a Blackstone affiliate, and other similar operational, administrative, or management related initiatives that result in commissions, discounts or similar payments to Blackstone or its affiliates (including personnel), including related to a portion of the savings achieved by the portfolio property. Such advisors and service providers referred to above may be investors in us, affiliates of the Dealer Manager or the Adviser, sources of financing and investment opportunities or co-investors or commercial counterparties or entities in which Blackstone and/or Other Blackstone Accounts have an investment, and payments by us may indirectly benefit Blackstone and/or such Other Blackstone Accounts. In addition, certain employees of Blackstone may have family members or relatives employed by such advisors and service providers. The Adviser and/or its affiliates may also provide administrative and other services to us as described below. These relationships may influence us, Blackstone and/or the Adviser in deciding whether to select or recommend such a service provider to perform services for us or a portfolio property (the cost of which will generally be borne directly or indirectly by us or such portfolio property, as applicable). Because Blackstone has many different businesses, including the Blackstone Capital Markets Group, which Blackstone investment teams and portfolio entities may engage to provide underwriting and capital market advisory services, it is subject to a number of actual and potential conflicts of interest, greater regulatory oversight and subject to more legal and contractual restrictions than that to which it would otherwise be subject if it had just one line of business. Certain Blackstone affiliates, as well as portfolio companies owned by one or more Other Blackstone Accounts, also provide other services in respect of our investments from time to time, including, but not limited to, property management services, leasing services, corporate services, statutory services, transaction support services (including but not limited to coordinating with brokers, lawyers, accountants and other advisors, assembling relevant information, conducting financial and market analyses, and coordinating closing procedures), construction and development management, and loan management and servicing, and within one or more such categories, providing services in respect of asset and/or investment administration, accounting, technology, tax preparation, finance (including but not limited to budget preparation and preparation and maintenance of corporate models), treasury, operational coordination, risk management, insurance placement, human resources, legal and compliance, valuation and reporting-related services. Such service providers, include, without limitation, the following companies, which we have engaged and expect to continue engaging with respect to properties in the sectors noted to provide some or all of the services described above: LivCor. We have engaged LivCor, LLC (“LivCor”), a portfolio company owned by a Blackstone-advised fund for certain of our multi-family properties. Equity Office Management/Equity Office Properties . We have engaged Equity Office Management, L.L.C. (“EOM”), a portfolio company owned by Blackstone-advised funds, for certain of our office and industrial properties. ShopCore. We have engaged ShopCore, LLC (“ShopCore”), a portfolio company owned by a Blackstone-advised fund, for certain of our retail properties. BRE Hotels and Resorts . We have engaged BRE Hotels and Resorts (“BRE”), a portfolio company controlled (but not owned) by a Blackstone-advised fund, for certain of our hotel properties. COE . We expect to engage the Blackstone Center of Excellence, located in Gurgaon, India (the “COE”), a center of resources administered by ThoughtFocus Technologies LLC, an independent firm in which Blackstone holds a minority position and participates as a member of the board, for certain of our properties. Revantage . We expect to engage Revantage Corporate Services, LLC (“Revantage”), a portfolio company owned by a Blackstone- advised fund, to provide corporate support services, including tax, treasury, accounting, legal, risk management, information technology and human resources. Revantage will consolidate such functions under one operating platform. Such functions are currently performed by each engaging portfolio entity, and in certain circumstances third parties. In connection with such consolidation, certain employees of one or more portfolio entities that currently perform such functions are expected to be reassigned to Revantage.