Fortress to price IPO on Thursday

 

Fortress Investment Group LLC will price its initial public offering Thursday, making it the first hedge fund or private-equity firm to be publicly traded, according to a filing with regulators Friday.
The New York-based hedge fund and private-equity firm plans to sell 34.3 million class A shares priced at between $16.50 and $18.50 each, valuing the offering between $566 million and $635 million, the filing said.
Principals of the firm, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FIG,” will hold about 78% of the shareholder voting power after the IPO, according to the filing.
Underwriters Goldman Sachs & Co., Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Lehman Brothers Inc. will have an option to buy an additional 5.1 million class A shares to cover over allotments.
The company had assets of $29.9 billion — including $9.4 billion in hedge funds — as of September, up from $1.2 billion as of December 2001.
One observer sees a trend.
“Over the next three years, you will see more hedge fund and private-equity firms going public,” said Charles Gradante, managing principal of Hennessee Group LLC in New York.

Thornburg introduces international fund
Thornburg Investment Management Inc. said Friday that it has introduced the Thornburg International Growth Fund.
The fund seeks long-term growth of capital by investing primarily in equity securities from issuers around the world. It plans to invest at least 75% of its assets in foreign securities or depositary receipts of foreign securities.
Alex Motola and Brian Summers, both managing directors at Thornburg in Santa Fe, N.M., will manage the fund. Mr. Motola also manages Thornburg Core Growth Fund.
“Thornburg International Growth Fund is a logical complement to our existing funds,” he said in a statement.