Spring 2018
Akash Pulluru
THE IMPACT OF TAX REFORM ON THE PE INDUSTRY

On December 19th, a Republican-controlled Congress narrowly passed a tax reform bill. This bill represents the most significant tax overhaul since 1986 and has profound implications for the private equity industry. Although this administration is often chastised for being overly friendly to private equity barons, the reality of this bill is far more complicated.

Real Estate

CASE STUDY: BLACKSTONE’S BUYOUT OF EQUITY OFFICE PROPERTIES (EOP)

In February 2007, The Blackstone Group, led by Jonathan Gray, acquired Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties Trust (EOP) for $39 Billion (including debt). At this time, Equity Office Properties was the country’s largest manager of office buildings, with over 500 buildings and 100 million SF across many U.S. markets.  Despite the timing of the buyout and the risk associated with the upcoming recession, Blackstone capitalized on the real estate bubble by unloading many of EOP’s properties over the course of the few months following the acquisition.