Coming on the heels of the first U.S. hedge fund to go public, private equity giant The Blackstone Group L.P announced Thursday that it has filed for an initial public offering which could raise up to $4 billion.

A registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange commission states it will offer common units representing limited partner interests in Blackstone, which are intended for listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

Among the reasons listed for going public, it states that it wants to access new sources of permanent capital to invest in existing businesses and expand into complementary new businesses.

The company's management style won't change the firm said. It says financial results could vary significantly from quarter to quarter.

"We intend to continue to follow the management approach that has served us well as a private firm of focusing on making the right decisions about purchasing and selling the right assets at the right time and at the right prices, without regard to how those decisions affect our financial results in any given quarter,' the firm said in its filing.

According to the filing, Blackstone's business is divided into four segments: Corporate Private Equity, Real Estate and marketable Alternative Asset Managem

Morgan Stanley & Co. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. will act as the global coordinators for the offering and representatives of the underwriters.

They will act together with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Credit Suisse Securities LLc, Lehman Brothers Inc, and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc as booking managers of the offering.

The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus, the company said in a statement. The company says investors will have only limited voting rights, and will have no right to elect its general partner or directors.

Investment Lehman brothers