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It was the first earnings the Washington, D.C.-based firm reported after former Goldman Sachs Inc (GS.N) executive Harvey Schwartz was named CEO in February. That resulted in after tax distributable earnings per share of 63 cents, which underperformed the average analyst forecast of 69 cents, according to Refinitiv data. Last month, Blackstone Inc (BX.N), the world's largest private-equity firm, reported a 36% drop in first-quarter distributable earnings due to slower asset disposals, primarily in its real estate portfolio. Carlyle said its credit funds appreciated by 3%, while secondaries funds rose 5% and corporate private-equity funds gained 1%. Blackstone had said its corporate private-equity funds had appreciated by 2.8% while liquid credit funds gained 3%.

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, Tesla, CVS, Microsoft, XPO, AT&T, Spotify & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Bank of America reiterates Alphabet as buy Bank of America says it's bullish heading into Alphabet earnings next week. JPMorgan reiterates Amazon as a best idea JPMorgan says it's bullish heading into the e-commerce giant's earnings report next week. "We continue to see streaming music & audio as an attractive growth market and remain OW WMG and SPOT." Stephens initiates SentinelOne as overweight Stephens initiated the cyber security company with an overweight and says it has "best-in-class growth." JPMorgan reiterates Charles Schwab as overweight JPMorgan says Charles Schwab could be worth more if it were to "de-bank."

German specialised property lenders such as Aareal Bank (ARLG.DE), Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBBG.DE) and Berlin Hyp, have a bigger concentration of real estate exposure, analysts added. Blackstone (BX.N) recently blocked withdrawals from its $70 billion real estate income trust after facing a flurry of redemption requests. Open-ended real estate funds in Britain have also battled to meet strong demand for redemptions. In Europe, CRE exposure for smaller banks, more at risk of deposit flight, is estimated at under 30% of all loans, Capital Economics said. "On the other, real estate owners themselves are going to face quite material increase in costs."

☆ Blackstone is in talks to help regional banks with lending
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N), the biggest manager of private equity and real estate assets, said on Thursday it was discussing partnerships with U.S. regional banks to help them with constraints in areas such as car loans and home improvement financing. "As regional banks experienced outflows of deposits, we are seeing real-time opportunities to partner with them at scale," Blackstone President Jonathan Gray said on the firm's first-quarter earnings call. "The regional banks generally play a very large role in home improvement loans, auto loans and equipment finance. He did not identify the banks Blackstone is speaking to. The firm has shifted its focus in real estate to resilient sectors such as logistics and rental housing.

☆ Blackstone's first-quarter earnings plunge on real estate slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N), the biggest manager of assets such as private equity and real estate, said on Thursday its first-quarter distributable earnings fell 36% year-on-year, as a weak property market stopped it from cashing out on some holdings. The slowdown in commercial real estate — triggered by higher interest rates, fears about an economic slowdown and businesses consolidating office space in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic — has also prevented Blackstone from selling assets for top dollar in many of its real estate funds. Distributable earnings, which represent the cash used for shareholder dividends, fell to $1.25 billion in the first quarter from $1.94 billion a year earlier, Blackstone said. Blackstone's fee-related earnings fell 9% to $1.04 billion, as fewer asset sales led to lower performance fees. Blackstone's opportunistic and core real estate funds depreciated by 0.4% and 1.6% over the first quarter, respectively.

☆ EQT tries tricky private-market fundraising puzzle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - When one pot of cash seems to be running low, it’s rational to seek another. That’s why EQT’s (EQTAB.ST) boss Christian Sinding is right to try raising money from rich individuals, rather than just institutions. The $24 billion Swedish private equity and real estate investor said alongside first-quarter results on Thursday that it was preparing fund structures for private wealth investors. This usually refers to people who are well-heeled but not deep-pocketed enough to have a dedicated private wealth management firm, a family office, looking after their money. EQT itself spooked shareholders in January, when it said that the fundraising for its new 20 billion euro EQT X vehicle was not happening as fast as analysts had predicted.

☆ These stocks could get a pop if they go in to S&P 500 index following rule change
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The change applies to the S & P Composite 1500 Index and its components, including the S & P 500 , the world's largest stock benchmark and the one with the widest following. It forces buying from every passive index fund manager whose fund tracks the S & P 500, S & P Midcap 400 or Smallcap 600, boosting the stock price in the short term. Evercore ISI is bullish on the prospect for inclusion in the S & P 500. Alternative asset managers Ares Management and Blackstone have also became eligible for S & P 500 inclusion. "Excluding BX from the S & P 500 has hurt the index's performance... and BX also yields a dividend that is ~2x the average S & P 500 company."

☆ Earnings from Club consumer, health and bank stocks will be our main focus in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Corporate earnings won't have to share the spotlight with major inflation data in the week ahead as they did during this past week's up-and-down market. From Morgan Stanley, we suspect Friday's bank earnings foreshadow a good release. This past week, we spoke about the importance of listening to what industry players aside from those you're invested in as a way to analyze the competitive landscape. Here are some of those other earnings reports and the economic numbers out in the week ahead. Club trades of the week We made just one trade this past week, in a market that was overbought , purchasing 25 shares of Palo Alto Networks (PANW).

☆ Emerson Electric to buy NI Corp for $8.2 bln to deepen automation push
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Nathan Gomes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - U.S. industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric Co (EMR.N) said on Wednesday it will buy measurement tools maker NI Corp (NATI.O) for $8.2 billion in a bid to boost its automation capabilities. The purchase will allow Emerson to tap NI's software-connected automated test and measurement systems for higher growth and margins in its automation portfolio. Emerson has executed a string of deals over the last few years to streamline itself into an industrial automation provider. The NI deal is expected to close in the first half of Emerson's fiscal 2024. Goldman Sachs & Co LLC and Centerview Partners LLC were financial advisers to Emerson on the deal, while Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP was its legal adviser.

☆ Emerson Electric to buy NI for $8.2 bln to deepen automation push
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 12 (Reuters) - U.S. industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric Co (EMR.N) on Wednesday said it would buy measurement tools maker NI Corp (NATI.O) for $8.2 billion in an effort to boost its automation capabilities. Emerson has executed a string of deals over the last few years to streamline itself into an industrial automation provider. The NI deal is expected to close in the first half of Emerson's fiscal 2024. Shares of Emerson, which already owns an about 2% stake in NI, fell more than 2% to $82.55 in premarket trade. NI launched a formal sale process in January after Emerson threatened to challenge its board if it did not engage in deal negotiations.

Emerson outbid other bidders including Fortive Corp (FTV.N) and Keysight Technologies Inc (KEYS.N) in the final stages of a sale process for National Instruments with an offer of about $60 per share, the sources said. National Instruments launched a formal sale process in January after Emerson threatened to challenge its board if it did not engage in deal negotiations. Emerson dropped its hostile bid once the auction for National Instruments got underway. Reuters first reported in March that Emerson, Fortive and Keysight were through to the final round of bidding for National Instruments, after breaking news of Emerson's interest in January. Austin, Texas-based National Instruments specializes in the production of automated testing and measurement tools for the semiconductor, transportation, aerospace and defense industries.

☆ Only the big will crack the $1 trln LBO code
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Lenders will only tiptoe back, meaning deals need the big checks and extra elbow grease in credit markets that favor the largest private equity firms. Private equity firms depend on borrowed money to reduce how much of their own they use in any single deal and to magnify returns as a percentage of their initial investment. Imagine a private equity firm acquires a company for $1 billion, then flips it five years later for $1.5 billion. Though the private equity industry is awash in so-called dry powder, fundraising is increasingly tilting to the largest fund managers. Buyout firms are apt to keep their plans more conservative to garner higher ratings – meaning, again, less leverage and more upfront cash.

While advancing more than 10% to an all-time high on the deal news, National Instruments was still trading a couple of dollars below the purchase price. The technology portfolio of National Instruments is "poised to capitalize on the same secular trends as our core business today," the Emerson team added. While we don't like hostile offers, it emerged that deal or no deal Emerson would be OK as long as they didn't grossly overpay. But to be clear, the issue isn't that National Instruments is a bad company and this deal is doomed from the start. Now it's time for management to show us we were wrong and National Instruments was worth the premium price.

☆ Blackstone raises $30.4 billion for latest real estate fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 11 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N) said on Tuesday it had raised $30.4 billion for its latest global real estate fund, as the private equity behemoth looks to double down on the industry. The fund, called Blackstone Real Estate Partners X, is 48% bigger than the asset management giant's previous real estate fund which closed in 2019. "Sector selection has never been more critical as we witness the bifurcation of performance within real estate," Ken Caplan, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate, said in a statement. Blackstone shares were up nearly 1% in premarket trading. Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Temasek hospital deal channels its Dr Resilience
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SINGAPORE, April 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Temasek is picking a good time to focus on health. The sovereign investor is taking control of Indian hospital operator Manipal for $2 billion. Others are on an Indian health drive too. Follow @anshumandaga on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSSingapore’s Temasek will buy an additional 41% stake in Manipal Health Enterprises, the unlisted Indian hospital chain said on April 10. After the deal closes, the Pai family’s Manipal Group will hold about 30% of Manipal Health.

☆ Real estate warning: beware the backward cap
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The commercial real estate industry has a different kind of backward cap – one that’s also a sign of a losing streak. The cap rate comes from dividing a property’s net operating income in any given year – money from rent minus associated costs – by the asset’s value. For more than 10 years, that gap remained positive even though cap rates were falling in virtually all real estate subsectors, from shopping malls to apartments. Reuters GraphicsAsk a large-scale real estate owner – or several – about this and they are characteristically optimistic. Reuters GraphicsWhen Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, the narrowed spread between cap rates and interest costs didn’t last for long.

April 4 (Reuters) - Private equity firm TPG Inc (TPG.O) said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy a majority stake in Elite, a vendor of business management software for law firms, from information provider Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO) at a valuation of $500 million. Thomson Reuters will keep a minority stake and board representation in Elite and continue to support it with its legal information products, the companies said. Paul Fischer, president of Thomson Reuters' legal professionals division, said that Elite will continue to share many of Thomson Reuters' clients as a standalone company. Elite offers software that helps law firms run their finance and accounting operations, including billing, invoicing and payments. TPG partner Tim Millikin said that the data and automation that Elite offers are in demand among legal professionals.

Blackstone has been exercising its right to block investor withdrawals from BREIT since November last year after requests exceeded a preset 5% of the net asset value of the fund. BREIT fulfilled withdrawal requests of $666 million in March, representing only 15% of the $4.5 billion in total redemption requests for the month, the firm said in a letter to investors. Total redemption requests for March were 15% higher than the approximately $3.9 billion demanded by investors in February but 16% lower than the $5.3 billion Blackstone received in January. The level of withdrawal requests is expected to normalize over time as Blackstone works through its backlog, Blackstone President Jonathan Gray said during an analyst earnings call in January. Blackstone shares were down 3.7% to $84.6 per share, in line with the broader market, which was also trading lower.

[1/2] Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon speaks during the Goldman Sachs Investor Day at Goldman Sachs Headquarters in New York City, U.S., February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidHONG KONG/SHANGHAI, March 31 (Reuters) - A flurry of top financial executives have visited China for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic as global financial giants seek to cement their relations with Beijing at the start of President Xi Jinping's new term. International financial institutions and investors are welcome to expand in China, the chairman of the country's securities regulator said. Goldman Sachs' Solomon and Blackstone (BX.N) CEO Stephen Schwarzman met Peng Chun, chairman of China Investment Corporation (CIC), this week, according to official social media posts from the $1.35 trillion sovereign wealth fund. Meanwhile, Chip Kaye, Warburg Pincus's CEO, met Beijing's major Yin Yong during his visit to the city last week, according to a municipal statement from Beijing.

☆ Apollo assures investors deposit flight won't spill over to Athene
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Reuters GraphicsIn a quarterly update to shareholders published on March 13, Apollo outlined how Athene's funding model is different than a bank's. In the wake of the banking crisis, however, Apollo has been fielding questions from analysts and investors about Athene's funding model. Following a meeting with Apollo executives, Hone wrote in a note last week that he does not anticipate a spike in withdrawals from Athene's annuity holders and that Athene's funding base was stable. Apollo said in its March 13 presentation to investors that it had seen inflows of $8.8 billion to Athene from the start of the year to March 10. Questions from investors and analysts to Apollo have focused on this subset of annuity policies that have a potentially higher flight risk.

The remainder was equity checks by the private equity firms. Typically, debt accounts for between 60% and 80% of the deal consideration, allowing the buyout firms to juice returns. REFINANCING RISKTo be sure, a handful of private equity firms have already been accustomed to this kind of refinancing risk. An upside to the shift toward equity financing, dealmakers say, is that the companies owned by the private equity firms have more cushion to absorb losses if their business deteriorates. Many of the leveraged buyouts that became bankruptcies in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis were the result of private equity firms saddling companies with debt to the hilt.

☆ Cautious calm returns to bank stocks as focus shifts to regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Focus is also shifting to the possibility of tighter regulation in the U.S. banking sector, particularly for mid-tier banks like SVB (SIVB.O) and New York-based Signature Bank, whose collapses last week roiled financial markets. Investors had been particularly concerned about the huge bond holdings, particularly in U.S. Treasuries, of Japanese lenders. However, Japanese finance minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Wednesday differences in the structure of bank deposits, meant local banks wouldn't face incidents similar to SVB's collapse. In an attempt to avert a similar crisis down the line, the Federal Reserve is also considering tougher rules and oversight for midsize banks similar in size to SVB. "A year after starting to raise interest rates, the Federal Reserve is still chasing evidence that higher borrowing costs are slowing the U.S.

☆ Italy's Atlantia becomes Mundys, Blackstone ready to support M&A
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A logo of the Atlantia Group is seen outside its headquarters in Rome, Italy August 31, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro BianchiMILAN, March 15 (Reuters) - Italy's Atlantia will change its name to Mundys, as it aims to become the biggest infrastructure group globally, co-owner Edizione's chairman Alessandro Benetton said on Wednesday. Last year, the Benetton family's holding company Edizione and U.S. investment fund Blackstone (BX.N) launched a buyout offer for Atlantia and took it private. Blackstone, together with Edizione, aim to strengthen Atlantia's leadership in the world of sustainable integrated mobility, said Andrea Valeri, chairman of Blackstone Italy. He added that Blackstone had committed to bringing additional capital to Atlantia, together with Edizione, if it were needed for future acquisitions.

☆ Investors tiptoe back into US bank stocks, regulators probe SVB collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

March 14 (Reuters) - Bruised U.S. bank stocks regained some ground on Tuesday, as a sell-off sparked by Silicon Valley Bank's collapse gave way to bargain-hunting by investors hopeful that efforts to shore up confidence would avert a wider financial crisis. The S&P 500 regional banks index (.SPLRCBNKS) rebounded 1.4%, leaving it with a 26% loss over the past five sessions. Investors worry about the health of smaller banks, the prospect of tighter regulation and authorities' preference for protecting depositors before shareholders. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsINVESTIGATIONSAs markets adjusted to the impact of SVB's collapse, regulars turned their focus to the circumstances around the bank's collapse. Officials are also examining stock sales by officers of SVB Financial Group, which owned the bank, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank collapse: What you need to know now
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. bank stocks jumped on Tuesday, recovering some ground after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O) triggered heavy selling by investors who were already anxious about the impact on lenders of rising interest rates. Senator Elizabeth Warren called on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to recuse himself from an internal review of recent bank failures, saying his actions "directly contributed" to them. * Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germans should not have major concerns and that regulators had learned lessons from the global financial crisis in 2008. MARKETS* U.S. regional bank shares bounced, with First Republic Bank (FRC.N) up 42.3% at $44.40 a share, a day after touching a record low of $17.53. * Global shares turned higher, ending a five-session rout, as U.S. inflation data bolstered bets on a smaller interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week.

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