Full Description

The Blackstone Group L.P. is an alternative asset manager and provider of financial advisory services. The Company is an independent alternative asset manager with assets under management of $94.56 billion, as of December 31, 2008. Its alternative asset management businesses include the management of corporate private equity funds, real estate funds, funds of hedge funds, credit-oriented funds, collateralized loan obligation (CLO) vehicles and publicly-traded, closed-end mutual funds. The Company also provides a range of financial advisory services, including corporate and mergers and acquisitions advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement services. The Company operates in four business segments, including Corporate Private Equity, Real Estate, Marketable Alternative Asset Management and Financial Advisory. In September 2009, the Company sold 57% interest in Cineworld Group PLC. In November 2009, the Company and Lion Capital LLP announced that they have closed on the sale of the Orangina Schweppes Group (Orangina) to Suntory Holdings Limited (Suntory).

On March 3, 2008, the Company acquired GSO Capital Partners LP (GSO) and certain of its affiliates. GSO is an alternative asset manager specializing in the leveraged finance marketplace. GSO manages various credit-oriented funds and CLO vehicles. In August 2008, the Company announced the establishment of a new business group, Cleantech Energy Group, which will focus on investments in the cleantech energy sector and will also provide advice on renewable energy strategies across the Company’s asset base. In October 2008, The Blackstone Group L.P. acquired Apria Healthcare Group Inc.

Corporate Private Equity

The Company manages five general private equity funds, as well as one specialized fund focusing on communications-related investments. It pursues transactions worldwide, including not only typical leveraged buyout acquisitions of seasoned companies but also transactions involving start-up businesses in established industries, turnarounds, minority investments, corporate partnerships, distressed debt, structured securities and industry consolidations. During the year ended December 31, 2008, its corporate private equity segment had $23.93 billion of assets under management.

Real Estate

As of December 31, 2008, the Company managed a total of six domestic and two non-United States real estate funds. The real estate segment consists of offices at New York, Chicago, London, Paris, Mumbai, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. During the year ended December 31, 2008, its real estate segment had $24.15 billion of assets under management.

Marketable Alternative Asset Management

The Company’s marketable alternative asset management segment includes its funds of hedge funds, credit-oriented funds, CLO vehicles and publicly-traded, closed-end mutual funds. As of December 31, 2008, its Marketable Alternative Asset Management segment had $46.47 billion of assets under management, or 49%, of its total assets under management.

The Company’s funds of hedge funds group manage a variety of funds of hedge funds. Its funds of hedge funds group has developed into a manager of institutional funds of hedge funds with offices in New York, London and Hong Kong. Its funds of hedge funds operation had $23.09 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2008. The Company’s credit-oriented funds are managed under the brand of GSO Capital Partners. Its CLO vehicles are managed by GSO under the GSO Capital Partners and Blackstone brands. The credit-oriented businesses have offices in New York, London and Houston. The credit-oriented funds the Company manages include senior credit-oriented funds, distressed debt funds, mezzanine funds and general credit-oriented funds focused on the leveraged finance marketplace. Those funds have investment portfolios comprised of securities spread across the capital structure, including senior debt, subordinated debt, preferred stock and common equity.

Effective December 31, 2008, the Company executed a restructuring of two single manager proprietary hedge funds. It consolidated its Blackstone distressed debt hedge fund onto a single operating platform with its funds managed by GSO. The Blackstone distressed debt hedge fund had $754.2 million of assets under management as of December 31, 2008. The Company also decided to spin out its equity hedge fund business to its management team. As of December 31, 2008, the equity hedge fund had $825.9 million in assets. The investors of both funds have the option of reinvesting their proceeds in GSO vehicles (in the case of the distressed hedge fund) and a new equity hedge fund unaffiliated with Blackstone (in the case of the equity hedge fund).

As of December 31, 2008, the Company was appointed the investment manager and adviser of two publicly-traded closed-end mutual funds called The India Fund and The Asia Tigers Fund. The India Fund had $671.1 million in assets under management as of December 31, 2008. The India Fund’s investment objective is long-term capital appreciation through investing primarily in the equity securities of Indian companies. The Asia Tigers Fund had $49.1 million in assets under management as of December 31, 2008. The Asia Tigers Fund’s investment objective is long-term capital appreciation through investing primarily in the equity securities of Asian companies.

Financial Advisory Business

The Company’s financial advisory segment includes its corporate, and mergers and acquisitions advisory services, restructuring and reorganization advisory services, and Park Hill Group, which provides fund placement services for alternative investment funds. Its financial advisory businesses are global businesses with offices in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Menlo Park, London, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo. Its corporate, and mergers and acquisitions advisory operation has been an independent provider of financial and corporate, and mergers and acquisitions advisory services. The Company provides financial and corporate, and mergers and acquisitions advisory services with a range of transaction execution capability with respect to acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, minority investments, asset swaps, divestitures, takeover defenses and distressed sales.

The Company’s restructuring and reorganization advisory operation is an adviser to companies and creditors in restructurings and bankruptcies with offices in New York and London. Its restructuring and reorganization advisory services clients include companies, creditors, corporate parents, hedge funds, financial sponsors and acquirers of troubled companies. Park Hill Group provides fund placement services for corporate private equity funds, real estate funds, venture capital funds and hedge funds. Park Hill Group primarily provides placement services to unrelated third-party sponsored funds. Park Hill Group also assists the Company in raising capital for its own investment funds from time to time and providing insights into new alternative asset products and trends. Hill Group has offices in New York, Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Tokyo.