Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP might have
gone public at the top of the market with a $4 billion
initial public offering, but now it is forced to divulge a fourth-quarter loss that exceeded
analyst estimates. Blackstone had a fourth-quarter loss of
$827.1 million, and due to losses it will not make a
quarterly payout to
shareholders. The losses, excluding costs tied to its 2007 initial public offering, were
68 cents a share, compared with a profit of $88 million.
CEO Stephen Schwarzman said in the
release that:
"We ended the year with substantial dry powder across our real estate, private equity
and credit businesses and think we are well poised to make highly attractive investments in the years
ahead. Severe market dislocations have meaningfully altered the competitive landscape and our
competitive position remains very strong in all our businesses."
Since the beginning of 2008, Blackstone has completed $9.2 billion in wheeling and dealing though much of its more recent investment, not surprisingly, are in distressed assets through its GSO Capital Partners LP business.
As a note, neither Schwarzman or co-founder, Peter Peterson received bonuses in 2008.
However, according to
DealBook they did receive $684 million and $1.8 billion in proceeds from the firm's initial offering
.- Maria Woehr
