Blackstone’s credit fund reaches withdrawal limit

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Blackstone Inc said redemptions from its $50 billion non-traded business development company reached its pre-set limit for the first time but investors were still allowed to cash out on their investments.

This is the first time redemption requests had reached the pre-set limit of 5% since Blackstone launched the product in January last year. It also comes after Blackstone announced last Thursday that it would curb withdrawals from its $69 billion unlisted real estate income trust (REIT) following a surge in redemption requests.

Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED) received withdrawal requests from its investors that were about 5% of the fund’s outstanding shares in the fourth quarter that ended on Nov. 30, according to a regulatory filing.

Blackstone said all redemption requests made to BCRED will be honored and that the fund has $8 billion of immediate liquidity.

“BCRED is well positioned with 100% floating rate and 94% senior secured loans and zero payment defaults,” a Blackstone spokesperson said in a statement.

“We saw net positive flows this quarter as investors sought compelling yields in high-quality assets with little volatility.”

(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)