Aiming to profit from the credit crunch, the Blackstone Group has inked a deal to buy hedge fund firm GSO Capital for $620 million up front in cash and stock--and up to $310 million more based on various milestones. According to the AP, GSO specializes in leveraged finance, and manages a multi-strategy credit hedge fund, a mezzanine fund, a senior debt fund, and various CLO vehicles. To the extent that it can, it will likely help Blackstone finance more deals. The firm was founded by Bennett Goodman, a former Credit Suisse executive. It surely signals that Blackstone is thinking about opportunities in this downturn--anything to keep the pipeline flowing!  

For more:
- here's the AP article