New York: The Blackstone Group today announced the closing of one of the largest Collateralized Loan Obligation vehicles of this year.

Hanover Square CLO Ltd., The Blackstone Group’s first CLO, is a $600 million investment pool that will principally invest in senior secured loans issued by the highest quality companies in the leveraged loan market across a wide variety of industries.

Blackstone Debt Advisors, a unit of Blackstone’s Corporate Debt Investing Group and headed by Dean Criares, serves as the Fund’s collateral manager.

Blackstone’s Corporate Debt Group plans to further expand its presence in the loan market with additional CLO funds. The leveraged loan market increasingly looks to institutional funds to replace commercial banks who continue to de-emphasize their practice of lending.

Howard Gellis, who heads Blackstone Corporate Debt Group said, “We are pleased to have successfully raised such a significant fund, with a diverse group of international and domestic investors, in an otherwise very difficult period in the capital markets. Dean Criares has assembled a team of professionals capable of growing this business into a major force in the senior loan market.”

About The Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group, a private investment bank with offices in New York and London, was founded in 1985 by its Chairman, Peter G. Peterson, and its President and CEO, Stephen A. Schwarzman. The Blackstone Group’s six core businesses are Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory, Restructuring and Reorganization Advisory, Private Equity Investing, Private Real Estate Investing, Corporate Debt Investing, and Liquid Alternative Asset Management.