Goldman CEO says new LBO fund could exceed $20 bln

By Joseph A. Giannone and Michael Flaherty

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) seeks to raise the largest corporate buyout fund ever, even as the Wall Street bank deflects reports that its growing clout as an investor has private equity firms on edge.

Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein on Tuesday said the firm expects to bring in around $19 billion to $20 billion for its next buyout fund, a target that exceeds the amount raised so far by its biggest private-equity clients.

"It might be a little more, it might be a little less," Blankfein told shareholders at the company's annual meeting in New York City.

Goldman's ambitious fund-raising target comes at a time when some of the biggest buyout shops grumble, privately, about the Wall Street bank's growing clout as an investor and its heavy-handed role in some recent deals.

Rival bankers claim Goldman lost its chance for a coveted spot on Blackstone Group's IPO in part because it is viewed as too much of a competitor.

But in an interview before the annual meeting, Blankfein told Reuters: "We have very good relationships with our financial sponsor clients."

Blankfein also observed during the meeting that Goldman advised Blackstone in its record-setting $32 billion purchase of Equity Office Properties and provided financing, proof the bank remains on good terms.

Goldman, Blankfein told Reuters, is not about to change its approach to the business just because it was excluded from the Blackstone IPO.