The Blackstone Group is seeking $500 million for a distressed debt fund. Blackstone Distressed Debt Advisors was started at the end of last year and is headed by John Dionne, senior managing director and cio. The firm also hired Jeremiah Keefe and Il Lee as principals of the distressed debt group in March (LMW, 4/4).
Keefe was the director of European distressed research for Deutsche Bank and helped manage the bank's proprietary positions. Lee was a v.p. with Harbert Management Corp. Tom Hill, senior managing director, declined to comment