Blackstone off 61% since going public

BY GREGORY ZUCKERMAN AND RANDALL SMITH

Private equity is being pummeled.

Few shares are experiencing the kind of beating that big buyout firms are enduring. Firms like Blackstone Group LP, KKR & Co., Apollo Global Management LLC and Fortress Investment Group LLC have seen their shares fall between 19% and 27% so far this month, compared with a drop of 9.5% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

On Thursday, the carnage continued, as these stocks fell between 1.6% and 11%, while the Dow average fell 3.7%.

The troubles for these shares underscore how disappointing many private-equity companies have been for investors, despite the attention they garner due to their brand names on Wall Street. Blackstone became the first major private-equity manager to go public, in June 2007-just before the market hit turbulence-in a $4.8 Billion dollar sale. The stock is off 61% since then.