Blackstone Group LP is unlikely to make a foray into commodity trading in the short term as the world's largest alternative asset manager struggles to find a target to fit its asset-light business model, a senior executive said on Thursday. In his first earnings call with reporters since Blackstone lost out to Mercuria to purchase JPMorgan Chase & Co's physical commodity division, Blackstone President Tony James said he is still interested in broadening the company's revenue through commodities."It remains of interest, but I would not count on us doing anything in the short term," he said. James did not identify any potential targets.Instead, he reiterated a stance outlined in the company's January results call that the potentially risky, capital-intensive business of trading physical commodities may be at odds with Blackstone's business model."The constrains are we don't really want to become a proprietary asset-heavy firm on the one hand," he said.
The Blackstone Group L.P. (Blackstone) is a manager of private capital and provider of financial advisory services. Shares of BX traded higher by 2.07% or $0.64/share to $31.58. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $19.15 and as high as $35.39. On average, 5737370 shares of BX exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 6600600.
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