(Bloomberg) — Blackstone Inc.’s Strategic Partners unit sold a $1.1 billion portfolio of private equity fund interests to Ares Management Corp.
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The portfolio consists of older fund stakes that Strategic Partners had acquired from institutional sellers, according to people with knowledge of the matter, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
This is the largest private equity deal completed by Ares’ secondaries group. PJT Partners Inc. advised on the transaction, the people said.
Representatives for Blackstone, Ares and PJT declined to comment.
Strategic Partners, led by Verdun Perry, has $69 billion of assets under management and about 5,500 of acquired limited partnership interests.
Ares’ secondaries group has more than $24.8 billion of assets, and Nate Walton heads its private equity secondaries strategy.
Private equity secondaries transactions have increased in volume as investors — known as limited partners — hunt for liquidity in a slow dealmaking environment. Portfolio sales by limited partners increased to $60 billion last year from $53 billion in 2022, according to a PJT report.
Read More: Private Equity Deal Rut Spurs Firms to Raise Cash Creatively
Total deal volume in the secondary market last quarter increased by about 20% from the first three months of 2023, PJT estimates.
British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is nearing a deal to sell more than $1 billion of private equity fund stakes to Ardian SAS to rebalance its portfolio and free up cash.
Read More: Ardian Is Near Deal to Buy Over $1 Billion of BCI’s PE Holdings
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