Blackstone Group to launch consumer lending arm

The firm plans to facilitate $10 billion in loans over the next three years

Steven Schwarzman
Stephen Schwarzman

Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group, the largest landlord in the country, is about to play loan matchmaker for people looking to buy household items.

The private equity firm bought the domain name for Lending.com and wants to make it easier for people to borrow money for household appliances, cars and other goods. The website plans to help dish out $10 billion in loans over the next three years. The setup is an attractive one for marketplace lenders — through Lending.com, Blackstone can facilitate loans outside the direct reach of some regulators, while raking in fees as the loan intermediary. 

The firm, which also originates loans to real estate investors through its B2R Finance, says it will screen its lending partners and make sure prospective borrowers have good credit, Bloomberg reported.

Lending.com seems a complementary business for a firm that owns 50,000 rental units.

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Earlier this year, Blackstone announced that its real estate arm, led by Jonathan Gray, raised the largest-ever private real estate fund at a whopping $15.8 billion. At the time, representatives said 20 percent of the capital had already been committed to projects.

The firm’s real estate arm also recently snapped up BioMed Realty Trust for $8 billion, taking over a portfolio of 115 medical offices and laboratory buildings mostly centered around Boston, San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle. [Bloomberg]Kathryn Brenzel

Correction: The subhead on an earlier version of this article misidentified the number Blackstone plans to loan; it’s $10 billion.