Blackstone Group Inc
The Blackstone Group is an American multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services firm based in New York City. As the largest alternative investment firm in the world, Blackstone specializes in private equity, credit and hedge fund investment strategies.
Blackstone operates through 4 business segments:
- Private Equity: the corporate private equity business consists of corporate private equity funds, Blackstone Capital Partners funds, sector-focused corporate private equity funds, including energy-focused Blackstone Energy Partners funds and its core private equity fund.
- Hedge Fund Solutions: comprised principally of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management.
- Credit: consists principally of GSO Capital Partners, one of the world's largest (credit-oriented) leveraged finance-focused alternative asset managers.
- Real Estate: consists principally of GSO Capital Partners LP. The Blackstone Real Estate Partners funds target a range of opportunistic real estate and real estate related investments.
Company
- 5.52% Vanguard Group Inc
- 4.90% Capital Research & Management Company (World)
- 2.66% Janus Capital Management LLC
- 2.36% Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
- 2.35% Wellington Management Company LLP
- 2.34% MLP Investment Holdings Inc,[1]
- 2.02% Capital Research & Management Company (International)
- 1.79% BlackRock Fund Advisors
- 1.70% ClearBridge Investments LLC[2][3]
- 1.23% Massachusetts Financial Services Co.
Structure
Portfolio Companies
Blackstone's private equity arm Corporate Private Equity has 97+ companies, with $76bn in combined annual revenue.ref
Current
Casual Dining Group
Casual Dining Group operates 300+ restaurants across the UK, under the Bella Italia, Café Rouge, Las Iguanas, La Tasca, Belgo, Huxley's, Oriel Grand Brasserie, La Salle, Ortega, Potters and Amalfi brands.
- Jul.2015: Las Iguanas and La Tasca chains acquired.[4][5]
- Mar.2015: Casual Dining Group: the group was renamed.
- Sept.2014: Strada: 43 restaurants were sold to US firm Sun Capital Partners Inc.ref
- Jun.2014: Company CVA process ?? - see link
- Mar.2008: Huxley's Bar & Kitchen, a new restaurant concept, opened in the new Heathrow Terminal 5.ref
- 2007: Feb: Ma Potters restaurant company acquired.ref
May: the Strada chain acquired.ref
Jul: Signed a deal with Center Parcs to operate restaurants in its sites.ref - Dec.2006: Tragus Holdings was bought from Legal & General, along with its 163 restaurants, including the Café Rouge, Bella Pasta, Mamma Amalfi, Abbaye, Leadenhall Wine Bar and Oriel brands.[6]
Historic
- Jul.2007-Dec.2013: Hilton Hotels Corporation was acquired.ref,ref The buyout saddled the company with $20bn of debt, which was restructured in Apr.2010. Blackstone floated Hilton in a 2nd IPO in Dec.2013,ref retaining a 45.8% stake.ref MarketScreener, Blackstone page
- Dec.2006-: United Biscuits was acquired by Blackstone, together with PAI Partners, from private equity firms Cinven and MidOcean Partners.ref,ref
- Nov.2004-Mar.2006: Nursing Home Properties plc, largest owner of UK care homes.ref
- Sept.2004-Mar.2007: Southern Cross Healthcare
- Nov.2005-Nov.2009: Orangina was acquired by Blackstone, together with Lion Capital LLP from Cadbury Schweppes.ref Sold to Suntory.ref
acquired Orangina, the bottler, distributor and franchisor of a number of carbonated and other soft drinks in Europe . LONDON, Nov. 21 - Another set of well-known brands was snapped up by private equity buyers on Monday when Cadbury Schweppes agreed to sell its European beverages unit, including the Orangina and Schweppes soft drinks. Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group will take control of Orangina, a pulpy, bubbly orange drink popularized in the early 1970's. The two groups will also buy the Schweppes line in Europe. Schweppes's founder, Jacob Schweppe, first distributed carbonated mineral water from a London factory in 1790. Also included in the sale are regional soft drinks like the Pampryl juice brand in France and La Casera, a Spanish producer of a carbonated lemonade that is mixed with wine or beer. The Schweppes brand soft drinks will continue to be produced and sold by Cadbury in the United States, Australia, Mexico and Canada. The sale allows Cadbury to concentrate on its confectionary business in Europe and its American soft drink brands, which include 7Up and Dr Pepper, the company said. It will use the proceeds to reduce the group's net debt, which was £4.3 billion ($7.8 billion) in June.
Timeline
- 2007: Blackstone became a public company via a $4bn initial public offering to become one of the first major private equity firms to list shares in its management company on the public stock market.
- 1985: Blackstone was founded as a mergers and acquisitions boutique by American investment banker Peter G. Peterson and businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers.
Articles
- Aug.27.2020: Blackstone Gets Back Into Rental Houses With Tricon Deal. Blackstone is making a new investment in suburban houses, as the Covid-19 pandemic pressures traditional commercial real estate. The suburbs are in high demand as city-dwellers seek quarantine comforts such as backyards and room for home offices. The private equity giant, which exited its stake in landlord Invitation Homes Inc last year, is leading a group of investors in a $300m minority investment in Tricon Residential Inc, which owns and manages 30,000+ single-family rental homes and multi-family units in North America. Blackstone took Invitation Homes public in 2017; the firm later merged with other rental-home operators to create a landlord with ~80,000 houses. Patrick Clark, Bloomberg.
- Apr.20.2018: Business big shot. After 18 years with Blackstone Real Estate, Stuart Grant is leaving his role as head of property asset management in Hong Kong to take up a newly created role of managing director at the British developer Stanhope plc. He will work alongside David Camp, the CEO, with a plan to take the top post when Mr Camp retires. The company is currently redeveloping the former BBC Television Centre in London into a residential and commercial complex. Dominic Walsh, The Times.
- May.06.2015: Four Seasons Health Care and Britain's social care crisis. Southern Cross Healthcare, a 750-home operator, collapsed in 2011 under a mountain of debt. It was controlled by the Blackstone Group, which sold off and then leased back its 750 care homes before listing the company. It suffered from falling local authority income, rising operating costs and an unsustainable debt burden. After a long period of limbo for thousands of vulnerable residents, the group folded, was broken up and its homes sold off to rival operators. Ravender Sembhy, IBTimes.
- Jun.02.2011: Sharks who made a killing out of 'care': How City predators destroyed firm caring for 31,000 old people. 10% of all elderly people in residential care are with Southern Cross. Four Seasons Health Care, the 2nd-biggest company, is also in trouble, with 19,800 people, 400 care homes and £750m debt. Rehousing all 31,000 residents would cost councils and Whitehall £600m a year. Ministers are facing calls from across the political spectrum to make it impossible for venture capital firms to meddle in businesses which have such an important impact on the old and vulnerable. MP Sarah Wollaston said: "It can’t be right that people can make a fast buck and clear out leaving taxpayers to pick up the bill". Labour’s Sheila Gilmore said it was "morally questionable" that a private equity firm was allowed to profit and run. Today, almost 90% of all residential provision is independent, and most of it is for-profit, enabled in 1990 by Conservatives (Thatcher), allowing local authorities to farm out the care of the elderly to private-sector providers. Tim Shipman, The Mail Online.
See Also
- Should private equity firms be allowed to "invest" in Care? See Private Equity and Care.
- Blackstone Family Investment Partnership Cayman IV-A LP