Boston Globe – Fortress Investment Group plans to become the first publicly traded U.S. private equity and hedge fund this week in an initial public offering that will raise about $600 million and value the entire company at about $7 billion.
Fortress Investment Group plans to sell 34.3 million Class A shares for between $16.50 and $18.50 per share, or a total of about $600 million at the midpoint. The company estimates net proceeds of $533 million from the sale, and will use most of the money to pay off debt, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Comission.
Investors will end up with 38.4 percent of the Class A shares, representing about a 8.6 percent voting interest. The company’s principals will retain about 77.7 percent voting interest through a special class of shares.
Fortress Investment Group has applied to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FIG.”
Founded in 1998, the New York-based company’s assets under management have grown to $29.9 billion from $1.2 billion at the end of 2001.
