Blackstone’s GSO to Raise $5 Billion for Rescue-Lending

GSO Capital Partners LP, the credit arm of Blackstone Group LP (BX), has accumulated $3.3 billion for a fund to lend to troubled companies and may raise as much as $5 billion this year.

The rescue-lending fund is expected to reach $4 billion to $5 billion this year, Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive officer of Blackstone, said today on an earnings conference call with analysts.

GSO, which invests in speculative-grade corporate debt, raised $2.5 billion for the fund last year and an additional $810 million this month, Blackstone said today in a preliminary filing of its fourth-quarter earnings.

The credit unit, acquired by Blackstone in 2008, had total assets under management of $56.4 billion at the end of last year, a 53 percent increase from the $37 billion at the end of 2011, according to the filing.

High-yield, high-risk, or junk-grade, debt is rated less than Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and below BBB- at Standard & Poor’s.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Idzelis in New York at cidzelis@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Faris Khan at fkhan33@bloomberg.net