Blackstone Closes Mezz Fund At $4B

The Blackstone Group LP has closed is sophomore mezzanine fund, GSO Capital Opportunities Fund II, with $4 billion in investor commitments, the New York megafirm confirmed to Buyouts. The target was $3 billion to $3.75 billion.

GSO expects to make 20 to 30 investments in the United States and Europe, with private equity sponsors involved in a majority of its investments, Buyouts reported previously, citing a report by the New Jersey Division of Investment.

New Jersey and the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer were known investors in its $2 billion predecessor fund, which closed in 2007, according to the Thomson One database. GSO also has a $188 million, 2008-vintage mezzanine fund focused on overseas investments.

GSO Capital Partners was formed as a hedge fund in 2004 by Bennett Goodman, the former high-yield debt chief at Credit Suisse, and colleagues Albert Smith and Douglas Ostrover. The trio launched their investment firm with a $1.5 billion fund that closed in July 2005. Blackstone Group acquired GSO for $930 million in March 2008.

Executives at Blackstone Group did not respond by deadline to requests for comment.

The firm did not use a placement agent to raise this fund. Schulte & Roth is legal counsel.