Blackstone is set to takeover US property giant Equity Office Properties, the US commercial real estate company founded by Sam Zell, in property’s biggest ever takeover deal.

Blackstone is set to agree a $36bn (£18.9bn) deal, including debt, which equates to around $20bn (£10.5bn) in equity, for the Chicago based company.

Equity Office Properties was set up 30 years ago by Zell and has a market capitalisation of around $15.72bn (£8.2bn).

See this week’s Property Week for more details.