Fortress investment group is a leading global firm in providing investment strategies to individuals as well as institutional clients. Fortress specializes in a wide range of investments such as private equity, liquid hedge funds, and credit funds. It enables its clients to raise, invest and manage a wide range of investments. Fortress also provides a reprieve to distressed companies by sitting on their board of directors and helping the company turnaround or by fully acquiring the company. It has vast experience in turning around companies that are distressed. Many institutions and individuals across the world trust in Fortress’ ability to help them make informed investment decisions. The fortress was among the first private equity companies to be listed in the US. It has an asset base of $3.6 billion according to the financial results released in 2017.
In 2010, Fortress investment group almost brought to a halt the winter Olympic Games in Canada. They were in the headlines for quite some time, and a lot of people could not understand how an American firm could be involved in Olympic Games in Canada. Fortress demanded payments from Canadian authorities to allow the games to proceed. This payment was for British Columbia resort that Fortress investment group owned and was meant to be used during the games for alpine events. They demanded to be paid $90 million else the games would not proceed. In February 2018, SoftBank Group announced that it had completed the acquisition of Fortress investment group as it had earlier communicated in 2017. Fortress was acquired for $3 billion. Fortress is now wholly owned by SoftBank Group.
The management of SoftBank Group said that Fortress would run as an independent entity under the umbrella of SoftBank Group. The shareholders of Fortress approved the acquisition, and so far SoftBank Group has met all the statutory requirements for purchase. Following the acquisition, each share will get $8.08 in cash from the merger proceeds. The management of SoftBank Group has stated that the principals of Fortress will continue to lead the firm as it does not want to lose the leadership, business model, processes and culture that have supported Fortress since its inception.Management at Fortress encourages a flat organization structure to secure communication along the hierarchy. Employees at Fortress express their gratitude to the administration because this structure makes teamwork easier for them to handle their projects. Though the work is at times challenging, the structure makes it easier to execute.