{"text":[[{"start":8.65,"text":"Blackstone is preparing to take a series of long-held investments public as the world’s largest private capital group uses buoyant markets as an opportunity to exit a stockpile of ageing buyouts."}],[{"start":24.09,"text":"Jonathan Gray, president of Blackstone, told the FT in an interview that the group, which has $1.3tn in assets, had lined up “one of our largest IPO pipelines in history” as a way to exit successful deals and return cash to clients."}],[{"start":42.58,"text":"“The markets have got liquid enough and receptive enough to take our companies public,” said Gray. “The deal environment feels like it has hit escape velocity.”"}],[{"start":54.23,"text":"Last month, Blackstone took Medline Industries public in a $7.2bn IPO that was the largest-ever public offering of a private equity owned company. The IPO, which put the market valuation of Medline at $55bn by the end of the first day of trading, has allowed Blackstone to begin realising a multibillion-dollar profit from the US medical supplies company it acquired for $34bn in 2021."}],[{"start":85.86,"text":"Gray characterised the deal as proof that Blackstone could successfully exit its largest buyouts, including a string of deals struck when markets were booming in 2021 after years of worries that such deals would prove hard to exit."}],[{"start":102.75999999999999,"text":"“Medline was a symbolic moment,” said Gray. “A lot of the criticism at the time was that you couldn’t exit these deals, but I do think this IPO definitely says that you can.”"}],[{"start":116.71,"text":"Blackstone is preparing to list sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s and commercial and industrial refrigeration group Copeland, according to people briefed on the matter."}],[{"start":128.44,"text":"Gray’s comments came as Blackstone reported better than expected fourth-quarter earnings in which it raised $72bn in new investor money and was able to sell down more than $46bn in investments."}],[{"start":143.72,"text":"Blackstone’s quarterly distributable earnings, a proxy for cash flows favoured by analysts, were $2.2bn, a 4 per cent increase from this time a year ago, beating expectations."}],[{"start":157.36,"text":"The group’s results also showed that fundraising was picking up as institutions and individual investors ploughed cash into private assets."}],[{"start":167.05,"text":"For the full year, Blackstone raised nearly $240bn in new investor commitments, its best annual fundraising result in four years."}],[{"start":179.43,"text":"Blackstone’s credit investment unit grew to $520bn in total assets, a 15 per cent increase from this time last year."}],[{"start":190.32,"text":"Investors have been watching for signs of waning investor appetite for private credit, which has helped power the returns of Blackstone and its rivals KKR, Ares and Apollo over past years. "}],[{"start":205,"text":"The decision by the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates last year has weighed on the asset class, and Blackstone reported that its private credit investment returns fell to 7.8 per cent in 2025 from 11.6 per cent a year before, after accounting for fees. Returns on traditional loans have fallen in tandem."}],[{"start":229.69,"text":"Redemption requests increased for the company’s flagship private credit fund, known by the acronym BCRED, which, like peers, was hit by an investor pullback in the final months of last year in the wake of a handful of high-profile bankruptcies in the US. "}],[{"start":246.72,"text":"But inflows to the fund still eclipsed withdrawal requests and Blackstone said net flows across its credit and insurance business remained robust at $33.2bn in the quarter."}],[{"start":261.71,"text":"Blackstone’s financial results were also lifted by large gains in its infrastructure investment business, which saw asset values rise more than 23 per cent in 2025, led by gains to its data centre business, QTS Realty."}],[{"start":277.90999999999997,"text":"“Our focus on investing at massive scale in the build-out of digital and energy infrastructure continues to create significant value for our investors,” said chief executive Stephen Schwarzman."}],[{"start":290.84,"text":"Additional reporting by Eric Platt in New York"}],[{"start":304.10999999999996,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1769733011_1375.mp3"}