New York State Pension Commits $300 Million to Blackstone

(October 21, 2010) — The $124.8 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, the third largest public pension plan in the US, has invested $300 million in Blackstone Group’s buyout funds.

According to a newly-released transaction report from the Office of the State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, the state pension committed $300 million in August to Blackstone Capital Partners VI, bringing the total committed to Blackstone over the course of its relationship with the firm to a reported $1.8 billion. While the deal closed August 17, the details of the transaction were released in a report yesterday.

Blackstone said in July that the buyout fund had raised $13.5 billion. While the buyout firm had earlier hoped to raise $20 billion for the fund, it later lowered the estimate to $15 billion as a result of a difficult fundraising environment.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund, which covers more than 1 million members, retirees and beneficiaries, said it also invested $45 million in Institutional Venture Partners’ Institutional Venture Partners XIII and $15 million into High Peaks Seed Venture NY, a $971 million initiative that aims to fund universities and researchers.