Blackstone Inc. Through private equity funds, it acquired the International Gemological Institute (IGI) from Shanghai Yuyuan Tourist Mart (Group) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Fosun, and Roland Lorie, a representative of the IGI founding family. This is reported in a press release from Blackstone.
The deal is aimed at further developing and strengthening IGI's leading position in the market with the support of financial capabilities and the global Blackstone network.
Deutsche Bank, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted as consultants to Yuyuan and Roland Laurie. KPMG, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas represented Blackstone.
Blackstone is the largest American alternative investment company. Blackstone has $991 billion under management, including investment instruments focused on direct investment, real estate, private and liquid loans, infrastructure, government securities and secondary funds. Based in New York, the group's offices are also located in London, Paris, Dusseldorf, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Madrid, Mumbai and
IGI is a world leader in the field of independent certification of diamonds, precious stones and jewelry and has 29 laboratories and 18 gemology schools in 10 countries. IGI is the world's first gemological laboratory that has received ISO accreditation for the identification of natural and artificial diamonds. IGI provides consumers with a wide range of services, including reports on natural and laboratory-grown diamonds, sorting of colored stones and reports on the origin, identification and evaluation of jewelry. The headquarters is located in Antwerp.
Yuyuan is the flagship platform of Fosun's consumer sector. Yuyuan owns commercial facilities in the center of Shanghai, as well as Laomiao Gold (one of the largest gold and jewelry chains in China), Tuopai Shede Spirits (the leading distillery in China) and more than 10 brands in the watch, cosmetics, healthcare and culture sectors. The shares are listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.