In its much-watched NYSE debut, The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) spent late Friday morning trading narrowly between $35.50 and $37, mostly stagnant since opening at $36.45, 18% higher than its IPO price of $31. At 12:30 p.m., shares of the private equity giant were trading $4.65 higher at $35.65, on volume of 88.5 million shares. The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 were all lower.
Blackstone raised $4.13 billion after trading Thursday in its 133.4-million-share IPO, the largest in the U.S. since CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT)'s $4.6 billion IPO in 2002. The offering represents a 12.3 percent stake in the buyout firm.
The Blackstone Group is a top global alternative asset manager and provider of financial advisory services. The firm has about $88.4 billion in assets under management.
More Blackstone coverage
- Joseph Lazzaro: Is the Blackstone IPO right for you?
- Sarah Gilbert: Blackstone Group IPO: Do you want in?
- Peter Cohan: Blackstone IPO not a great deal for bankers or public
- Georges Yared: Blackstone Group: Going public because it can
- Tom Taulli: Blackstone IPO: Looking for the greater fool
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