The Blackstone Group

The Blackstone Group is a corporate private equity operation that made headlines by being one of the first such entities to launch an initial public offering (IPO). Blackstone's stock is currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol BX. The company has more than US$1 trillion in total assets under management. 
Established in the mid 1980s, it is a global business with offices in New York, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong.
Blackstone opened its IPO in November of 2007 at $31 a share for +15 million shares. According to the filing, the Blackstone Group would have a market capitalization of about $32.4 billion. The stock price rose nearly $7 shortly after the open, but the price dropped below $30 in the following week.
Blackstone owns a broad range of businesses - from London Eye and Legoland operator Merlin Entertainment Group to Pinnacle Foods Corp. In November 2024, it struck a $8-billion deal to acquire the sandwich chain Jersey Mike's Subs.
The Blackstone Group bankrolls a data-center developer called QTS that builds large data centers, such as a 600-acre complex in Fayetteville, Georgia that will hold thousands of computers for companies including Microsoft Corp. The complex is expected to consume as much electricity as about a million U.S. households.
== History ==
Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman founded The Blackstone Group in 1985 with a shared secretary and a balance sheet of $400,000. As of June 30, 2007, the company had total assets under management of approximately $91.8 billion. 
From 1987 through June 30, 2007, Blackstone's corporate private equity funds invested in approximately 113 companies in a variety of industries and geographies in pursuit of their investment objectives. The total enterprise value of all transactions effected by its corporate private equity operations through June 30, 2007 was over $199 billion. 
===Corporate Private Equity===
Through this segment, established in 1987, Blackstone pursues private equity transactions throughout the world, including not only typical leveraged buyout acquisitions of seasoned companies but also transactions involving start-up businesses in established industries, turnarounds, minority investments, corporate partnerships and industry consolidations.
At an event held by the Confederation of British Industry in late 2007, Schwarzman addressed criticism from unions, politicians and the public that private equity strips companies of their assets and burdens them with debt. "I suspect that private equity's current image has been colored by myths and fears that have more to do with anxiety about changes in the global economy," he said.
===Real Estate===
Since 1992, Blackstone has had a diversified, global real estate operation, with investments in a variety of sectors and geographic locations. It has managed six general real estate opportunity funds and two internationally focused real estate opportunity funds. It is the world’s largest commercial real estate investor. 
In 2010, Blackstone agreed to manage more than $2 billion of real estate assets in Asia owned by former funds of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
In 2024, Blackstone made a £300mn bid to acquire the “Can of Ham” skyscraper in London, but negotiations fell through when the seller, Nuveen, was unwilling to accept an offer below the £322mn asking price.
=== Alternative Asset Management===
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager, with more than $1 trillion in AUM as of September 30, 2024. Its alternative asset management group, established in 1990, manages hedge funds, mezzanine funds, senior debt vehicles, proprietary hedge funds and publicly-traded closed-end mutual funds.
===Financial Advisory===
Since 1985, the company's financial advisory segment has involved its corporate and mergers and acquisitions advisory services, restructuring and reorganization advisory services, and fund placement services for alternative investment funds.
== Key People ==
*Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder
*Hamilton E. James, President & Chief Operating Officer
*J. Tomilson Hill, Vice Chairman, The Blackstone Group; President & Chief Executive Officer of Blackstone Marketable Alternative Asset Management
*Timothy Coleman, Senior Managing Director & Head of Restructuring & Reorganization 
*John G. Finley, Senior Managing Director & Chief Legal Officer
*Bennett J. Goodman, Senior Managing Director & Co-Founder of GSO Capital Partners
*Jonathan D. Gray, Senior Managing Director & Co-Head of Real Estate
*Douglas I. Ostrover, Senior Managing Director & Co-Founder of GSO Capital Partners
*Chad R. Pike, Senior Managing Director & Co-Head of Real Estate
*J. Albert Smith, Senior Managing Director & Co-Founder of GSO Capital Partners
*Michael Chae, Head of Private Equity in Asia
== References ==
Category:Private Equity
Category:Advisory Firms
Category:The Blackstone Group