Four top executives of Fortress Investment Group, the first publicly traded private equity and hedge fund manager in the U.S., will sell 25.7 million Fortress shares and operating units, about 10% of their interest, in an underwritten public stock sale.
The planned offering, disclosed Wednesday in a regulatory filing by the company, is the first large disposal of shares by Fortress insiders since the firm went public seven years ago. Co-founders Wesley R. Edens and Randal A. Nardone and senior executives Peter L. Briger Jr. and Michael E. Novogratz stand to collect about $215 million in the sale based on Fortress' closing price Wednesday of $8.37.
The Fortress executives are joining peers at Carlyle Group, Apollo Global Management and Oaktree Capital Group in selling stakes in their companies after a five-year rally in U.S. stocks. Fortress shares have surged almost ninefold from their 2008 low through Wednesday.
According to the filing, Fortress will sell 23.2 million newly issued Class A shares in the offering, with proceeds used to buy Fortress operating group units from the insiders. The executives and other employees also will sell 5.1 million Class A shares.
Fortress managed $61.8 billion in assets as of Dec. 31.