Blackstone to acquire majority stake in NetBrain for $750 million

NEW YORK - Blackstone (NYSE:BX), the investment giant with a market capitalization of over $203 billion and a robust "GOOD" financial health rating according to InvestingPro, announced Tuesday it has entered into a definitive agreement to make a majority growth investment in NetBrain Technologies, valuing the network automation platform at $750 million.

The investment, made through Blackstone Growth (BXG) and affiliated funds, aims to accelerate NetBrain’s innovation, expand its global presence, and scale its AI-powered platform to meet growing demand for intelligent network automation solutions. The deal adds to Blackstone’s impressive track record, with the firm showing a strong 21.23% return over the past year.

NetBrain provides network automation and AI technology to more than one-third of Fortune 500 companies. The company’s platform creates a digital twin of networks and uses AI to automate manual network operations tasks.

The investment comes as enterprise networks grow increasingly complex with cloud and SDN architectures, creating challenges for traditional automation tools. NetBrain’s technology shifts network management from device-centric to intent-centric models, which the company says enables faster outage resolution and stronger security.

"I’m thrilled to partner with Blackstone Growth to accelerate our next phase of expansion," said Lingping Gao, Founder and CEO of NetBrain Technologies.

Vishal Amin, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone Growth, said: "NetBrain is at a pivotal inflection point, with increasing demand for automation across IT, networking, and security teams."

According to the press release statement, NetBrain operates in the $30 billion networking operations market. The company has no debt, maintains cash reserves, and is profitable.

McDermott Will & Emery served as legal counsel to NetBrain, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP advised Blackstone on the transaction.

In other recent news, PPL Corporation has announced a joint venture with Blackstone Infrastructure to construct natural gas generation facilities in Pennsylvania. This collaboration is set to support the increasing demand for data centers, with PPL holding a 51% stake and Blackstone Infrastructure owning the remaining 49%. Blackstone has also revealed plans to invest over $25 billion in Pennsylvania’s digital and energy infrastructure. This investment aims to attract an additional $60 billion to the state, focusing on the development of data centers and power generation facilities.

In a separate development, Jersey Mike’s is set to raise $400 million through asset-backed securities, which could help fund payments to Blackstone Inc., following Blackstone’s acquisition of a majority stake in the sandwich chain. The securities will be backed by Jersey Mike’s assets, including franchise fees and US trademarks, and are expected to receive BBB ratings from S&P Global Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Additionally, Blackstone has appointed Monica Issar as Senior Managing Director and Head of Total Portfolio Management within its Multi-Asset Investing division. She will be based in New York and work closely with Co-Chief Investment Officers Joe Dowling and David Ben-Ur.

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