Blackstone Private Equity Fund Closes on $15.6 Billion

New York: The Blackstone Group today announced the closing of its latest global private equity fund, Blackstone Capital Partners V (BCP V), with total commitments of $15.6 billion, creating the world’s largest private equity fund. BCP V, like its predecessor funds, will be invested across a broad range of sectors and geographical locations.

Several significant investments have already been committed to BCP V including VNU N.V. (Netherlands), Michaels Stores Inc. (USA), Cendant’s Travelport unit (Global), Encore Medical Corporation (USA), Center Parcs (UK), Emcure Pharmaceuticals Limited (India) and Deutsche Telekom A.G. (Germany), with a total enterprise value of approximately $30 billion. The combined equity participation in these seven transactions already accounts for more than 25% of the new fund’s available capital.

Since The Blackstone Group started its private equity investment business in 1987, the firm has raised a total of more than $63 billion for alternative asset investing making it the world’s largest independent alternative asset manager.

In the past twelve months the firm has raised approximately $30 billion across its many alternative asset investment businesses. In addition to Private Equity ($15.6 billion), they include Real Estate ($7.2 billion), Corporate Debt ($2.7 billion), Hedge Funds ($620 million), and Fund of Hedge Funds ($4 billion).

Blackstone’s private equity business currently has investments in 45 portfolio companies with combined annual revenues in excess of $72 billion employing approximately 350,000 people around the globe. BCP IV, which closed in 2002 with commitments totaling $6.45 billion, is now fully invested.

Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman & CEO of The Blackstone Group, said; “This extraordinary vote of confidence from our investors is extremely gratifying. The record-breaking amount of capital now at our disposal will allow us to undertake transactions of a size and complexity that was inconceivable just a few years ago, and at a level where there is far less competition for high quality assets.”

The Blackstone Group was assisted in its fund-raising by Park Hill Group, a Blackstone affiliate.