Blackstone wants about $8 billion, and they know just how to get it.

Piece of cake. First, they're going to get nearly half from China - the government of which just sunk $3 billion into the company. Then they're just going to go ahead and set a record for the largest share offering done by a private equity firm, and sell over 153 million shares at anywhere between $29 and $31. They figure that'll be good for about $4.75 billion.

They were actually going to sell the shares for less, but then when the Chinese government poured in cash, Blackstone decided to raise the share price by 20%. "Blackstone is more appealing now because they have the Chinese connection. That will really open a lot of doors for them," said Andrew Metrick, a professor of finance at UPenn's Wharton.

Blackstone Group LP plans to raise as much as $7.75 billion selling stock to the public and the Chinese government in the biggest offering of shares by a private-equity firm.

Blackstone, whose funds own 43 companies, will sell as many as 153.3 million shares for $29 to $31 each, bringing in as much as $4.75 billion, the New York-based firm said today in a regulatory filing. It increased the value of the initial public offering by almost 20 percent after agreeing yesterday to sell a $3 billion stake to China's state-owned investment company.

(Continue reading this story on Bloomberg)

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