Blackstone Held Talks With Citadel About Buying Stake

(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group Inc. held talks about buying a stake in Ken Griffin’s flagship hedge fund, people familiar with the matter said.

The Blackstone division that invests in alternative asset managers led the talks with Griffin’s Citadel, the people said. Nothing came of the discussions, which are now over.

“Citadel is a terrific firm, but we are not in discussions with them at this time,” a Blackstone spokeswoman said.

In statement issued Saturday to Bloomberg, Citadel spokesman Zia Ahmed said: “Given the that we have delivered for our partners and stakeholders over nearly 30 years, a number of investors have expressed interest in our management company.”

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the news.

Citadel is comprised of its hedge fund business, which has $32 billion in assets under management, and thriving securities-trading operations. Citadel executives have estimated the hedge fund to be worth between $5 billion and $7 billion, the Journal reported.

Blackstone, which managed $545 billion in assets as of June, has a group that invests in other investment firms. In August, it bought as much as 15% of European private equity firm BC Partners in return for about 500 million euros ($552 million) of investment.

Griffin is worth an estimated $9.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Over the past year, he’s made headlines by making a slew of audacious real estate deals, including paying a record $238 million for a penthouse at 220 Central Park South.

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