New York, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The Blackstone Group, the U.S. second largest private equity investment company, has confirmed that the soon-to-be-established China's State Investment Company agreed to make a 3 billion dollars investment in the company.

    The State Investment Company in China and the Blackstone Group L.P. announced Sunday that the State Investment Company has agreed to make a 3 billion dollars investment in Blackstone in the form of non-voting common units, said Blackstone in a news release.

    The purchase price per common unit will be 95.5 percent of the public offering price in Blackstone's planned initial public offering.

    The number of non-voting common units purchased by the State Investment Company will be reduced if necessary so that the State Investment Company's equity interest in Blackstone immediately following the planned initial public offering remains under 10 percent.

    The State Investment Company has agreed to hold its investment in Blackstone for at least four years.

    Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Blackstone, said: "We are pleased to welcome the State Investment Company as an equity owner of our firm. We are proud to be part of such a significant transaction for both of our organizations."

    The 3 billion dollars sale of non-voting common units to State Investment Company will close concurrently with Blackstone's planned 4 billion dollars initial public offering.

    The Blackstone Group, a leading global alternative asset manager and provider of financial advisory services, is one of the largest independent alternative asset managers in the world.