China’s State Investment Company to Acquire Non-Voting Minority Stake in Blackstone

Beijing and New York – The soon to be established state foreign exchange investment company (“State Investment Company”) in China and The Blackstone Group L.P. (“Blackstone”) announced today that the State Investment Company has agreed to make a $3 billion investment in Blackstone in the form of non-voting common units. The purchase price per common unit will be 95.5% of the public offering price in Blackstone’s planned initial public offering. The number of non-voting common units purchased by the State Investment Company will be reduced if necessary so that the State Investment Company’s equity interest in Blackstone immediately following the planned initial public offering remains under 10%. The State Investment Company has agreed to hold its investment in Blackstone for at least four years.

Lou Jiwei, head of the working group of the State Investment Company, said: “We are very pleased to be able to make the State Investment Company’s very first investment in such a well-respected firm as Blackstone.”

Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Blackstone, said: “We are pleased to welcome the State Investment Company as an equity owner of our firm. We are proud to be part of such a significant transaction for both of our organizations.”

The $3 billion sale of non-voting common units to State Investment Company will close concurrently with Blackstone’s planned $4 billion initial public offering.

About State Foreign Exchange Investment Company

The Chinese Government is establishing an investment vehicle with respect to the foreign exchange reserve of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This state foreign exchange investment company (formal name yet to be determined) will report directly to the State Council of the PRC.

About 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 estateopportunity funds, funds of hedge funds, mezzanine funds, senior debt funds, proprietary hedge funds andclosed-end mutual funds. The Blackstone Group also provides various financial advisory services, includingmergers and acquisitions advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement services.

This release contains forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. State Investment Company and Blackstone undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.