Boston, MA 10/29/2013 (wallstreetpr) – The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), a provider of financial advisory services and a manager of private capital, reported this recent news: Tony James, the president of the company, is reducing his stake in the private-equity firm. He has helped in the building up of company into the largest manager of alternative assets of the world over the past 11 years. According to a filing with the United States, he sold about 3.25 million shares of New York-based Blackstone at prices ranging from $26.71 to $27.85 between October 23 and October 25.
This year, James has sold about 8.25 million shares in 3 transactions. According to regulatory filings, this is about a 5th of the equity he held in the company at the beginning of this year. He said that he has no plans to leave the company. According to people familiar with the firm the 62 year old may be looking for a new opportunity outside of private equity. However, they asked not to be identified because this was an internal matter.
Over the weekend, when James was contacted through a telephone, he said that he will not leave the company for years. The spokesman for the company, Peter Rose, declined to say anything about the sale of shares by James. Since the year 2007, when the firm went public, Blackstone has reached the highest level this month.
The filing showed that the transactions of this month were valued at about $88.6 million. These transactions were made by a company which is controlled by James and his wife. The other 2 transactions showed that James sold 3.5 million shares in February, valued at about $64.2 million and 1.5 million shares in July, worth about $34.2 million. Filings show that a large divestment was previously made by him when he sold 1.25 million shares in April and May of 2011.
