Private equity firm Apollo Global files for IPO

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shareholders of Apollo Global Management, the buyout firm run by Leon Black, plan to sell 29.8 million shares in an initial public offering, following a 42-percent decline in Apollo shares on a private exchange, the company said in a federal filing on Tuesday.

Apollo, which filed for the IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said the stock was valued at about $417.5 million.

The planned IPO would be selling stock that was sold privately in August, when investors paid $24 a share. That stock traded at $14 on Monday on a Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) exchange open to institutions and wealthy investors, the company said.

Though the move does not come at the best time for private equity firms, Apollo said in the filing that it "may significantly increase the pace of investment when the 'prevailing wisdom' is to sell."

The company, which agreed to let investors sell their shares to the public as part of the original offering, won't receive any of the proceeds of the IPO.

The stock has plunged amid a credit meltdown that has hurt leveraged buyouts. Shares of rival Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) have plunged 40 percent since an initial public offering in June.

The offering may be closely watched by other private equity firms, such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co KKR.UL. KKR filed for an initial public offering last July, but the deal has stalled because of the credit freeze.

Apollo also cautioned in the filing that its financial results could vary from one quarter to the next and advised that investors should be those interested in being long-term shareholders.

The company said it lost $569.7 million in 2007, due to compensation expenses related to last year's private share sale. That compares with a net income of $373 million in 2006.

Apollo said its revenue rose 84 percent to $637.9 million in 2007.

Apollo had $40.3 billion in assets under management at year-end, a 64 percent gain from a year earlier, according to the filing. The firm, founded in 1990, is focusing on buying distressed securities instead of on leveraged buyouts, it said.

(Reporting by Jui Chakravorty, additional reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)