Blackstone Heading Deeper Into China (BX)

Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) looks like it is going to get a much stronger foothold in China.  A report from Reuters has the private equity giant in talks with the local city government of Shanghai.  The city announced last week that it wanted to pursue more private equity or sovereign wealth “types” of strategies.  The talks appear to allow Blackstone to establish a Chinese subsidiary  that would be wholly owned.  This would allow it to launch a local currency private equity fund.

Blackstone is the most logical of private equity funds to get a stronger position in China.  It seems that this is just the logical step after the news in recent months. Speculating on any size of a fund is premature, but it seems that this one would possibly top out at $1 billion or less.  Being a foreign entity and owning too large of an operating company (particularly infrastructure, where private equity has scored) in China is not the easiest thing to do.

There is a reason you rarely see M&A news out of China.

Jon C. Ogg