The World's Largest Alternative Assets Manager Is Backtracking On Online Lending Expansion
Seven months have passed since Blackstone announced plans to get into online consumer lending, and now the world’s largest alternative asset manager is holding off.
The firm’s new single-family branch, B2R Finance, bought the domain name lending.com with plans to finance everything from AC units to auto purchases, but is reorganizing to focus more on its original mission, financing investors in the growing market of single-family home rentals.
In the process of this pullback, B2R has replaced its leadership, including CEO Jason Hogg, and laid off around 60 workers, Bloomberg reports.
It's a prophetic move by Blackstone, as the reorganization plans were in the works before news of a scandal at online lender LendingClub cast a shadow on the whole online lending industry—and cut LendingClub’s shares by 40% this week. [Bloomberg]
