Earthtimes.org – Fortress Investment Group LLC, New York-based hedge fund and private equity firm, plans to raise $750 million through an initial public offering, the first by a U.S. manager ofalternative investments.
Fortress Investment has nearly $26 billion in hedge fund and private equity assets under its management.
The firm said in a regulatory filing it will offer for sale 10 per cent of the company to raise the amount, which will facilitate a public scrutiny of the private firm, which generally not happens inhedge funds. The IPO will also assess the response from the public for investments in hedge fund groups.
Fortress Investment said it plans listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The filing indicated that the firm’s pre-tax distributable earnings had grown from $55 million in 2003 to $240 million in2005. Its 13 private equity funds have $13.6 billion under management and have produced net annualized returns of 38.8 per cent since their inception in 1999. Its hedge funds, with $9.4 billion undermanagement, have returned about 14 per cent a year.
