Blackstone has continued what founder and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman has dubbed a fundraising “supercycle” and expects to hold the final close on its Strategic Partners Fund VIII next year.
The New York-based firm pulled in $24.1 billion over the third quarter and $124.6 billion in the last 12 months, according to its third quarter earnings announcement.
“Corporate PE, PE secondaries, global and European opportunistic real estate have all launched fundraising or soon will,” president and chief operating officer Jonathan Gray said on a conference call accompanying the announcement on Thursday.
“These funds were collectively $50 billion in their last vintage. We expect all will be larger and finish fundraising in 2019.”
The firm’s Strategic Partners secondaries unit is seeking $8 billion for Fund VIII, as Secondaries Investor reported in May. Since Blackstone bought the group from Credit Suisse in 2013 the firm has raised $3.5 billion for Fund VI and $5.75 billion for Fund VII, according to PEI data.
Blackstone raised $6.5 billion for corporate private equity during the quarter, mainly for its energy and Tactical Opportunities funds. Over the last 12 months, the firm has raised $19.6 billion for private equity, and it has its sights set on a new flagship fund – expected to be around $20 billion.
The record inflows across the company have propelled Blackstone’s assets under management to $456.7 billion – a year-over-year increase of 18 percent. Total dry powder was $95 billion, of which $40.5 billion is in private equity.
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