The Fortress Investment Group is set to become the first publicly traded US private equity and hedge fund as they stage a USD600 million initial public offering. They are planning to sell 34.4 million Class A shares which will be priced between USD16.50 and USD18.50 per share. The sale is estimated to net them USD533 million, which will go towards paying off debts.
It is expected that 38.4 percent of the Class A shares will go to investors. The company has also applied to list their shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Nomura paid USD888 million to buy 55.1 million shares, 15 percent of the company, ahead of the IPO. Fortress will pay quarterly dividends on the Class A shares, which will equal around 75 percent of its annual distributable earnings.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Banc of America securities LLC, Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Lehman Brothers Inc. are underwriters and will be given the option to buy 5.1 million Class A shares.