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Source : Business Wire Blackstone Closes EUR 400 Million CLO London, United Kingdom, New York, United States -- (Business Wire India) -- Friday, December 07, 2007 11:14:08 AM The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), announced the closing of St James's Park CDO B.V. ("St. James's Park"), the fourth European collateralised loan obligation (CLO) fund to be managed by Blackstone Debt Advisors L.P. ("BDA"), an affiliate of The Blackstone Group. The St. James's Park vehicle is a EUR 400 million ($590 million) CLO, which has a dynamically-managed portfolio, comprised primarily of senior secured loans of European issuers and, to a lesser extent, second lien loans, unsecured loans, mezzanine loans and high yield bonds. BDA extended its U.S. leveraged loan franchise into Europe by establishing a London presence in 2005 and, inclusive of St. James's Park, currently manages four CDOs comprised primarily of Euro-denominated assets with aggregate assets of approximately EUR 2 billion. In addition to its investment team, BDA has access to professionals throughout Blackstone allowing it to benefit from the firm's intellectual capital across its other business groups, thereby providing it with high-level access to management teams, industry leaders and the investment banking community. BDA is one of the principal entities which form Blackstone's Corporate Debt Group. This group currently manages 11 CDOs and two private investment partnerships with aggregate capital commitments of approximately $9.7 billion. They include seven US CDOs ($4.7 billion), four European CDOs ($2.9 billion) and two Private Investment Partnerships ($2.1 billion). Debra Anderson, portfolio manager and managing director with Blackstone's Corporate Debt Group in London, said "The St. James's Park CLO was priced and distributed during difficult market conditions. It is a testament to Blackstone's commitment to the European leveraged loan market and to Blackstone's ability to execute transactions at market-leading levels." Citigroup Global Markets Ltd was sole arranger and book-runner for the transaction. The Blackstone Group The Blackstone Group is a leading global alternative asset manager and provider of financial advisory services. Its alternative asset management businesses include the management of corporate private equity funds, real estate opportunity funds, funds of hedge funds, mezzanine funds, senior debt funds, proprietary hedge funds and closed-end mutual funds. The Blackstone Group also provides various financial advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement service. Further information is available at http://www.blackstone.com Media Contact Details CONTACT: The Blackstone Group European Corporate Communications Sophia Harrison +44 (0) 20 7451 4295 harrison@blackstone.com or US Corporate Communications John Ford +1-212-583-5559 ford@blackstone.com CONTACT: The Blackstone Group European Corporate Communications Sophia Harrison +44 (0) 20 7451 4295 harrison@blackstone.com or US Corporate Communications John Ford +1-212-583-5559 ford@blackstone.com http://www.businesswire.com Submit your press release at http://www.businesswireindia.com