AQR hedge fund considering IPO, paper says
NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - AQR Capital Management LLC, a $35 billion hedge fund manager, is "strongly considering" an initial public offering, the Financial Times reported on Friday on its Web site.
An IPO of Greenwich, Connecticut-based AQR, if it occurs, would come on the heels of two similar public offerings for private investment firms.
Fortress Investment Group (FIG.N), which manages hedge and buyout funds, in February raised $634 million in an IPO priced at $18.50 per share. And Blackstone Group, which also has both buyout and hedge funds, filed in March to hold an offering worth up to $4 billion.
There has been much recent speculation that other large investment firms will also seek public offerings.
AQR, which stands for Applied Quantitative Research, was founded in 1998 by four former Goldman Sachs & Co. (GS.N) executives, including Cliff Asness, David Kabiller, Robert Krail and John Liew.
Asness, Krail and Liew comprised the senior management team of the quantitative research group at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, according to AQR's Web site.
The FT said Goldman Sachs is involved with AQR public offering plans.
AQR officials could not be reached for comment.
