BX Blackstone Inc

By Colin Kellaher

Blackstone Inc. said its board authorized the repurchase of up to $2 billion worth of common stock and Blackstone Holdings partnership units, and that it bought back $500 million in common stock from its retiring executive vice chairman.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York investment giant said it bought nearly 3.72 million of the roughly 5.28 million shares recently sold by Hamilton "Tony" James, who recently announced plans to retire in January after a nearly two decades with the firm.

A separate SEC filing by Mr. James shows the sale price was $134.45 a share. Blackstone shares closed Tuesday at $139.33.

Blackstone said the sales by Mr. James are mainly by family trusts for his heirs for estate planning and necessary diversification, and that the executive is selling only enough shares held outside the trusts to partially fund taxes owed on the exchange, adding that Mr. James is retaining 80% of his personal Blackstone holdings and plans to remain a long-term shareholder.

Blackstone, which has around 686.9 million shares outstanding and sports a market capitalization topping $160 billion, said the new buyback replaces a prior $1 billion authorization, and that it expects to use share repurchases largely to offset the dilutive effect from annual equity awards.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 08, 2021 06:54 ET (11:54 GMT)

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