Blackstone shares close lower on Friday, private equity firm to merge Alight Solutions with Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp

According to a report by Reuters, citing sources with knowledge of the matter, Blackstone Group Inc (BX) is exploring a merger of US benefits services provider Alight Solutions LLC with a blank-check acquisition company backed by investor Bill Foley.

Blackstone shares closed lower for the fifth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Friday. The stock went down 1.13% ($0.74) to $64.60, after touching an intraday low at $63.87, or a price level not seen since December 15th ($63.53).

Shares of Blackstone Group LP have risen 15.48% so far during the current year, following an 87.66% gain in 2019.

As a result of the merger with Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp, Alight Solutions would become a publicly-traded company with a valuation of over $8 billion, including debt, the report stated.

The talks of a potential deal come more than a year after an initial public offering of Alight was cancelled by Blackstone due to concerns over terms.

Alight offers cloud-based benefits administration and human resources services to 30 million clients in 188 countries. Blackstone acquired Alight from insurance broker Aon Plc three years ago, in a deal valued at nearly $4.8 billion.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 15 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Blackstone Group LP’s stock price, have a median target of $64.00, with a high estimate of $70.00 and a low estimate of $51.00. The median estimate represents a 0.93% downside compared to the closing price of $64.60 on December 18th.

The same media also reported that at least 14 out of 18 surveyed investment analysts had rated Blackstone Group LP’s stock as “Buy”, while 4 – as “Hold”.