Blackstone is buying Harvest Fund Advisors, a fund management firm that specialises in investing in public master limited partnerships (MLPs).

The acquisition will give Blackstone $10bn (€8.51bn) in additional assets under management allocated to MLPs that hold US midstream energy assets.

Tony James, president and chief operating officer at Blackstone, said: “Harvest is a leader in bringing institutional investors to the MLP asset class.

“It has generated superior long-term results for its investors.

“Harvest’s expertise in this area will complement our extensive energy investing activities across Blackstone.”

Dwight Scott, a senior managing director of Blackstone and president of the company’s credit subsidiary GSO, said: “We see significant growth and opportunity in the MLP markets today, especially in the continued evolution towards broader institutional ownership.

“The Harvest team leads the way in this evolution and has a unique and successful approach to investing in this often misunderstood asset class.

“We have known the team for several years and have seen their creative approach to the sector first hand.”

The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2017.