Blackstone Finishes TRW Auto Deal –

With a $368 million equity investment from Northrop Grumman in hand, The Blackstone Group signed an agreement with the global defense company to purchase TRW Inc.’s automotive business for $4.725 billion.

Northrop is selling the automotive division to Blackstone, following Northrop’s July acquisition of TRW Inc. for $7.8 billion.

According to Randy Belote, a spokesman for Northrop, Blackstone is contributing $500 million in equity, just half of the amount Northrop expected to receive prior to the sudden departure of The Carlyle Group, the one-time co-sponsor with Blackstone. Originally, Blackstone and Carlyle each planned to offer $500 million in equity as part of a