Filed under: The Blackstone Group, Raising money

While the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) is primarily known as a private equity firm, this actually understates things. In fact, it is a diverse global platform that spans hedge funds, corporate advisory, and real estate investments.

Actually, the real estate segment is getting more massive. This week Blackstone announced that it raised a $4.3 billion real estate fund with the main focus on opportunities in Europe. It’s called the Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe III fund (for whatever reason, these funds can be a mouthful).

True, Europe has been mired in a recession (hey, who hasn’t?). But then again, Blackstone has a good sense of market cycles and will take the long view. So, this move is certainly a positive — indicating that there’s hope of an eventual comeback (and that big-money investors are willing to make a bet on it).

However, don’t expect a rush of deals. For the most part, Blackstone has the luxury of biding its time to find the right transactions. Besides, there are several European banks that need to shore up their capital, which means unloading properties, presenting even more chances for strong returns.

And where might the best opportunities be? According to Blackstone, it looks like the focus will be on the U.K. and Germany.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook, and the founder of BizEquity, a free online business valuation tool for small businesses. You can reach him at his personal blog.

Blackstone expects recovery in Europe originally appeared on BloggingBuyouts on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), Newsletters, Stocks to Buy

“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), already a holding on our buy list, was added to Goldman Sachs’ Conviction Buy List,” says Bill Martin. In BullMarket.com, he offers the reasoning for his continued buy rating.

“Analyst Sarah Friar at Goldman recently raised her price target on the name to $29 from $25 saying, ‘We are adding Microsoft to our Conviction List as we think the combination of better revenue drivers, improved expense management, and sizable cash balances provides more opportunities for bottom-line beats.’

“‘Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Bing, Xbox 360 and new Halo content, Office 2010, and the Azure Cloud provide renewed innovation beyond anything we have seen in multiple years,’ Friar wrote.

Continue reading Microsoft (MSFT): Bet on Bing?

Microsoft (MSFT): Bet on Bing? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG)

Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the largest search provider on the entire world wide web. It handles more advertising than any other company in the world and is extending its reach into multiple areas still to today, including several disruptive online areas. Yet, the behemoth still thinks it’s not that huge in the grand scheme of things. Do you concur?

Continue reading Google argues that it isn’t really that big after all

Google argues that it isn’t really that huge after all originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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