News

Blackstone has acquired a minority stake in San Francisco-based GI Partners, a middle-market asset management firm. No financial terms were disclosed. Evercore served as financial adviser to GI Partners. on the deal. Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to GI Partners while Simpson Thacher did likewise for Blackstone.

PRESS RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO, March 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — GI Partners, a leading middle-market alternative asset manager, announced today that funds affiliated with Blackstone’s (NYSE: BX) Strategic Capital Group have acquired a minority stake in the firm.

The investment provides GI Partners with balance sheet capital to reinvest in the business and engage in strategic initiatives. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Rick Magnuson, Founder and Executive Managing Director of GI Partners, said: “This investment is a testament to the strength of the people and processes which have driven our success over the last two decades. We look forward to leveraging the partnership with Blackstone as we continue to grow and diversify the business for the benefit of our investors.”

Scott Soussa, Head of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management’s Strategic Capital Group, which specializes in acquiring long-term interests in alternative managers, said: “Under Rick’s leadership, GI Partners has established itself as a leading firm in middle-market private equity and real estate investing. Their differentiated sourcing capabilities and strong operating expertise have led to sustained success since their founding and position the firm well for continued growth.”

Evercore served as financial advisor to GI Partners. Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to GI Partners and Simpson Thacher served as legal counsel to Blackstone.

About GI Partners
Founded in 2001, GI Partners is a private investment firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm has raised over $17 billion in capital from leading institutional investors around the world to invest in private equity, real estate, and data infrastructure strategies. The private equity team invests primarily in companies in the Healthcare, IT Infrastructure, Services, and Software sectors. The real estate team invests across a broad range of platforms and strategies. The data infrastructure team invests primarily in hard asset infrastructure businesses underpinning the digital economy. For more information on GI Partners and its entire portfolio, please visit www.gipartners.com.

About Blackstone Alternative Asset Management
Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM®), Blackstone’s Hedge Fund Solutions platform, is the world’s largest discretionary investor in hedge funds, with approximately $78 billion in assets under management. BAAM manages a diversified set of businesses including a customized solutions business, a special situations platform, a hedge fund seeding business, an open-ended mutual fund platform and a business that purchases stakes in established alternative asset managers. In all of BAAM’s business lines, it carefully selects and partners with fund managers across a variety of asset classes and strategies to create solutions for its investors. Through its sharp focus on clients’ goals, a rigorous due-diligence process and access to Blackstone’s global insights, BAAM strives to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns across market cycles while preserving capital during stressed market environments.