 "Blackstone")
Blackstone Group plans to convert to a corporation from a publicly traded partnership, a step that opens up the stock for inclusion in indexes, after watching two rivals benefit from the move. The shares jumped in early trading.
Changing the company’s structure will increase the firm’s “ability to reach a dramatically larger audience,” Chief Executive Officer Stephen Schwarzman, said Thursday in a Bloomberg Television interview.
“We’d handicapped ourselves by our corporate form,” he said. “We’ll make this easier for retail investors.”
Private equity firms including Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, have seen their stock prices lag since going public even as
