NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N) said on Thursday its second-quarter distributable earnings slumped nearly 40%, owing to a sharp drop in asset sales mostly from its real estate and credit businesses. Distributable earnings, which represent cash used to pay dividends to shareholders, fell to $1.2 billion from nearly $2 billion a year earlier. A major share of the reduced asset disposals came from Blackstone's real estate unit, where its net profit sank 94%, while that of its credit division dropped 46%. Its private credit funds gained 3.3% while hedge fund assets grew 1.9%. Opportunistic real estate funds were flat.

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Persons: Blackstone, Chibuike Oguh, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: YORK, Blackstone Inc, London Stock Exchange, Gates Industrial Corporation, Thomson Locations: New York