New Fund Attracted $960 Million in Successful IPO Third Closed End Fund launched by Blackstone
New York – GSO / Blackstone, part of the credit platform of Blackstone (NYSE: BX), one of the world’s leading investment and advisory firms, today announced the successful pricing of the initial public offering of Blackstone / GSO Strategic Credit Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund’s primary investment objective is to seek high current income, with a secondary objective to seek preservation of capital, consistent with its primary goal of high current income. The Fund began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today under the symbol “BGB”.
The Fund raised $834.8 million in its common share offering, or $960 million assuming the full exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option, which may or may not occur. GSO / Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLC (“GSO / Blackstone”), a subsidiary of Blackstone, is the Fund’s investment adviser. This is GSO / Blackstone’s third closed-end fund; the other funds managed by the team trade under the tickers “BSL” and “BGX.” The lead managers of the common share underwriting syndicate were Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, BofA Merrill Lynch, UBS Investment Bank, and Wells Fargo Securities.
“The Blackstone / GSO Strategic Credit Fund represents the third addition to our family of closed-end funds focused on the leveraged finance asset class. GSO / Blackstone continues to be a strong believer in the long-term opportunity in below investment grade corporate credit. We are excited to put our organization’s considerable resources and skills in this asset class to work on behalf of the investors in this fund,” said Dan Smith, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone.
Shares of closed-end investment companies, like the Fund, usually trade on a national stock exchange. Similar to stocks, the Fund’s share price will fluctuate with market conditions and, at the time of sale, may be worth more or less than the original investment. Shares of closed-end funds frequently trade at a discount from their net asset value.
The Fund is a newly organized, non-diversified, closed-end management investment company with no operating history. Investors should consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus which contains this and other information relevant to an investment in the fund, please contact your securities representative. Investors should read the prospectus carefully before they invest.
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This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 which reflect Blackstone’s current views with respect to, among other things, Blackstone’s operations and financial performance. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. Blackstone believes these factors include but are not limited to those described under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, as such factors may be updated from time to time in its periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this release and in the prospectus. Blackstone undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
This document is not an offer to sell securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
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