Peter Rose, a spokesman for Blackstone, declined to comment. Owen Blicksilver, a spokesman for Fort Worth, Texas- based TPG with Blicksilver Public Relations, declined to comment.
The hidden fees for services aren’t the only ones under SEC scrutiny. The regulator is also looking at accelerated- monitoring fees, which are lump-sum payments for future services that haven’t been provided, which private equity firms would otherwise lose when selling businesses. Private equity firms have taken in more than $1 billion in such fees from companies they’ve taken public since 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Blackstone recently ceased taking these payments, a person with knowledge of the matter said in October. Blackstone took $46.3 million in these fees when it listed SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. last year and $26.2 million from pharmaceutical company Catalent Inc. this year. TPG provided additional disclosure in the marketing document for its latest buyout fund that it would receive such fees from companies, which “may be significant.”