Blackstone says the worst is over for private equity industry
BUY-OUT giant Blackstone is set to list up to eight of its companies and sell five more, as the firm sees the fog lifting for private equity firms.
Blackstone founder Steve Schwarzman wrote to investors on Friday, predicting that the world is “changing once again” and that, for the private equity industry, “the worst is behind us”.
The change in stance will be seen as highly significant as Blackstone is credited with being the only buy-out firm to predict the severity of the economic crisis, and for reining in investment in time to avoid huge losses when the downturn hit.
Schwarzman said that the five companies were being sold at double their estimated values at the end of 2008, meaning that investors could receive around $2.8bn (£1.8bn).