First Internet Bancorp to sell almost $1B in financing loans to Blackstone

First Internet Bancorp (INBK) and Blackstone (BX) have entered into an agreement in which First Internet will sell up to $869M of performing single tenant lease financing loans to vehicles affiliated with Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, or BREDS. The Bank will retain customer-facing servicing responsibilities for all loans sold as part of this transaction. These performing single tenant lease financing loans are expected to be sold at a price approximating 95% of the unpaid principal balance, inclusive of transaction costs. Upon closing the transaction, the company expects to move approximately $550M of deposit balances off-balance sheet, aiming to provide a modest increase to its tangible common equity ratio. The remaining proceeds are expected to be used to fund near-term loan growth opportunities with the option to move additional deposits off-balance sheet. The proposed transaction is expected to close on or around September 18. For Blackstone Real Estate, this transaction follows the acquisition of $22B of commercial real estate loan portfolios in the last 24 months. The BREDS platform has deployed $38B from January 2024 through June 2025.