A few years ago, hedge funds saw tremendous opportunity in Asia. But, of course, the industry is now in a funk. In some cases, hedge funds are just trying to survive.

One of the major hedge funds that moved into Asia is GSO Capital Partners LP. The fund, which is an affiliate of the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), has about $25 billion in assets.

This week GSO is apparently pulling the plug on its Asia investment desk after only about five months in operation. Simply put, there aren't many bargains in the market.

Keep in mind that GSO focuses on distressed investments, and for the most part, Asia has fared relatively well.
Instead, the wreckage is mostly in the U.S. and Europe.

In a way, this is a negative thing, but there is a silver lining: the "smart money" sees good deals in the US. Ultimately, with more money coming into these investments, it could spark the beginnings of a comeback, especially in the debt markets.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

Blackstone's GSO bails on Asia originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Blackstone Group LP's (NYSE: BX) $930 million purchase of GSO Capital Partners early this year didn't get much fanfare. But so far, it looks like a stellar deal.

Simply put, GSO is a hedge fund that's focused on distressed debt. Of course, with the slowing economy, GSO is in a prime spot to capitalize on some nice opportunities.

But there is more. Basically, GSO has become a key source of buyout financing (this is according to Bloomberg.com).

For example, when the Weather Channel was up for sale, it was tough to get financing for the deal. So why not GSO?

It worked. In the end, Blackstone and Bain Capital teamed up with General Electric (NYSE: GE) to pull off the acquisition. As for GSO, it provided higher-risk mezzanine debt financing.

Of course there are issues. After all, Blackstone has a conflict. But at the same time, the financial markets are mired in a credit crunch. So, if there are essentially no alternatives, GSO is probably going to provide the best offer.

More importantly, Blackstone realizes that there are some juicy opportunities right now. Thus, by having the GSO advantage, Blackstone certainly is positioned nicely.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Blackstone's GSO keeps on giving originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.