Blackstone Sets $25 Billion Limit on Oversubscribed Fund
Blackstone Sets $25 Billion Limit on Oversubscribed Buyout Fund
(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP set a $25 billion cap on its latest flagship buyout fund as investors clamor to get into the offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
New York-based Blackstone has attracted more interest from investors for its eighth private equity fund than it’s willing to handle, said the people. At $25 billion, Blackstone would exceed Apollo Global Management LLC’s $24.7 billion fund, an industry record.
Blackstone and its peers are benefiting from a robust fundraising market as investors continue to express confidence in the return potential for the asset class. Private equity firms raised $432 billion last year, short of 2017’s record haul.
While investors are concerned about high deal prices, many are upping their allocations to the asset class, according to a survey by Preqin Ltd. released in April. The survey found that 68 percent of investors were as confident as last year that private equity would deliver in 2019.
Blackstone has gathered money at a rapid clip, taking in $126 billion in the past year. Stephen Schwarzman, the firm’s chief executive, likened it to “an out-of-body experience” in an interview with Bloomberg Television last month, compared to fundraising when he started the firm.
A Blackstone spokesperson declined to comment.
Blackstone, the world’s largest alternatives manager with $512 billion in assets under management, held a first close of more than $22 billion on its flagship fund in March.
Blackstone’s global private equity business, led by Joseph Baratta since 2012, also manages funds focused on energy and investments in Asia.
To contact the reporters on this story: Sabrina Willmer in New York at swillmer2@bloomberg.net;Heather Perlberg in Washington at hperlberg@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Vincent Bielski
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