Publications

- March 1, 2015: Vol. 27, Number 3

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Do the math and a $15b fund might be in the offing

by Sheila Hopkins

The Blackstone Group is apparently well on its way to raising the industry’s first fund with a $13 billion equity target. After less than a month of official fundraising, BREP VIII is reportedly ready to hold its first close with $10 billion of commitments. Most of this is undoubtedly from current investors who re-upped when given the chance this past autumn, and it seems likely the rest will quickly follow.

Predecessor fund BREP VII closed at $13.3 billion in 2012, but it had only officially targeted $10 billion. Given that BREP VII overshot its minimum target raise by 33 percent, there is the real possibility Blackstone might be looking at the first $15 billion fund.

It is hard to overestimate how powerful a fundraising machine Blackstone has become. According to IREI’s FundTracker database, Blackstone has raised more than $27 billion during the past three years. This is followed by Lone Star Funds, which brought in about $20.6 billion in that same timeframe. Aft

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