Blackstone Group

Blackstone Group may write down its stake in bond insurer FGIC Corp. after the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market, President Hamilton E. James said Thursday. The AAA credit rating of the company's Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. unit is under review by ratings companies after a slump in the value of the mortgage securities it insures. "We have some realizations in the pipeline but also some write-downs we are facing such as FGIC," James said during a conference call to discuss the purchase of hedge fund firm GSO Capital Partners for $930 million.

Blackstone Group, the buyout firm that owns Hilton Hotels Corp., sold a golf resort near Carmel to an investment firm led by John Pritzker for $20 million. Pritzker, the founding partner of San Francisco-based Geolo Capital and son of the late billionaire Hyatt Hotels founder Jay Pritzker, said his company would spend about $25 million to upgrade Carmel Valley Ranch during the next 18 to 24 months. The resort is spread over 400 acres, and Pritzker's plans include room renovations and a spa.

PHH Corp., a mortgage and auto-leasing company, scrapped a $1.8-billion sale to General Electric Co. and Blackstone Group after Blackstone said Tuesday that banks reneged on an agreement to lend the money. Blackstone's banks refused to finance the purchase of PHH's mortgage division, the New York-based private-equity company said in a statement. The lenders, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., declined to comment.

A year ago, private equity executives were Wall Street's new masters of the universe, riding an era of easy money to unparalleled success by pulling off record-setting buyouts and pulling down monstrous paydays. The industry became so synonymous with making money that buyout giant Blackstone Group, a specialist in taking companies private, itself went public in June in a multibillion-dollar stock offering. And the firm's chief executive, Stephen A.

Blackstone Group, Shari Redstone's advisor, has expanded its role in recent weeks to assist National Amusements Inc. in restructuring $1.6 billion in debt, four people familiar with the discussions said. National Amusements is negotiating with its bankers to refinance two $800-million loans, one that was due Friday and another that is due next year.

With a bidding deadline for Tribune Co. set for Jan. 17, the charitable foundation that is the media company's second-largest shareholder said Thursday that it had hired Blackstone Group as an advisor on courses of action that could include selling its 12% stake or joining in a bid for the parent of the Los Angeles Times.

Private equity firm Blackstone Group on Thursday raised its offer to buy Equity Office Properties Trust by 11% to $22.3 billion, or $54 a share, in cash, topping a rival bid from Vornado Realty Trust as it made the second-biggest private equity buyout offer ever. Including debt, the deal could be worth as much as $38 billion, given $16.49 billion in Chicago-based Equity Office's debt reported as of Sept. 30.

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. on Sunday recommended Equity Office Properties Trust holders accept Blackstone Group's $38.3-billion cash offer. Equity Office shareholders, who were offered $54 a share for the largest U.S. office landlord, are scheduled to vote on the deal Feb. 5, the company said in a statement Sunday. Equity Office shares rose above Blackstone Group's offer price, closing at $55.

Equity Office Properties Trust said it still preferred a $54-per-share cash offer from private equity firm Blackstone Group, despite a higher cash-and-stock bid of $56 a share from Vornado Realty Trust. Chicago-based Equity Office , the largest U.S. office landlord, said it was recommending the $22.4-billion Blackstone deal because it believed it had "certainty of value and virtual certainty of closing in the immediate future." Shares of Equity Office rose 23 cents to $55.38.

Private equity firm Blackstone Group raised its cash takeover bid for Equity Office Properties Trust to $23 billion Tuesday, escalating a down-to-the-wire bidding war for the real estate company. Equity Office told shareholders to vote for the deal at a special meeting this morning, even though it was still less than a $23.2-billion bid from rival suitor Vornado Realty Trust. Blackstone's newest bid is for $55.50 a share, up nearly 15% from its first offer in November.