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Blackstone's stock is 'dimwitted'?

Tom Taulli — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:40:00 EST

Filed under: Private Equity, Blackstone Group L.P (BX)

No surprise, the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) posted a horrible fourth quarter. The firm, which is massive private equity firm, suffered a loss of $827.1 million. Basically, the firm had to recognize that the values of its portfolio are shrinking. Oh, and there will be no cash distribution for the quarter.

Yet, Blackstone's stock spiked 25% to $4.87.

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Blackstone's stock is 'dimwitted'? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blackstone chips away at its workforce

Tom Taulli — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:40:00 EST

Filed under: General Motors (GM), Blackstone Group L.P (BX)

In early December, the powerhouse private equity shop, the Carlyle Group, announced layoffs of 10% of its workforce. Let's face it, there's not much deal making lately.

Well, now it looks like another biggie in private equity is letting go of workers: the Blackstone Group LLP (NYSE: BX).

In all, the cuts are expected to come to 70 positions (the firm has about 1,300 employees), according to Bloomberg.com.

Back in November, Blackstone's chief, Stephen Schwarzman, was actually bullish on things. This was despite a terrible Q3, in which the firm reported losses of $502.5 million, or $0.44 per share.

For the most part, Schwarzman is eyeing some good deals (although, there has yet to be much activity). Also, he thinks there will be lots of growth in restructuring. In fact, General Motors (NYSE: GM) has hired Blackstone to help with restructuring options.

Despite all this, investors are quite skeptical of Blackstone. Simply put, the firm's portfolio write-downs do not seem to reflect the severe economic environment. Then again, Blackstone's shares have continued to languish.

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Blackstone chips away at its workforce originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Merrill Lynch buys into a hedge fund

Tom Taulli — Mon, 21 May 2007 11:42:00 EST

Filed under: Merrill Lynch (MER), Morgan Stanley (MS), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)

GSO Capital Partners LP got its start in 2005 and has been growing at a stunning rate. At present, the hedge fund has about $8 billion under management.

Now, the firm is getting another boost: Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) is buying a minority stake in the firm.

As institutions reallocate money to alternative assets, top-notch hedge funds have seen some mighty frothy times. And Wall Street wants to make sure it has a seat at the table. Simply put, the fees are too lucrative to ignore. Other active players in the market include Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH).

Yet, the hedge fund space is still fairly fragmented. So it's a good bet we'll eventually see further consolidation. And with the huge success of the Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) IPO, we probably will see some high profile equity offerings to the public as well.

As of 10 this morning, Merrill's stock is down $0.18 to $93.99.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Merrill Lynch buys into a hedge fund originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 May 2007 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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