Investment and advisory firm Blackstone (NYSE: BX) is buying Credit Suisse AG’s private equity business, Strategic Partners, for an undisclosed amount.

Strategic Partners has about $9 billion in assets under management. The company buys interests in private equity funds from investors looking for liquidity. The group has raised more than $11 billion in capital commitments since its founding in 2000.

The sale is part of Credit Suisse’s strategic divestment plans, which include focusing on a more liquid alternatives business, and selling its private equity businesses. The bank and financial services company announced those plans on July 18. Credit Suisse decided to shop the unit as banks started becoming more scrutinized by regulators for their ownership over private equity-backed assets and fund management operations.

New York-based Blackstone, founded in 1985, has made private equity investments in Exeter Finance Corp., Summit Materials and BayView Asset Management. Blackstone’s chief operating officer, Hamilton James, noted that the transaction is part of the firm’s plan to diversify away from leveraged buyouts. (For more coverage on that trend, see “Carlyle’s David Rubenstein Questions Logic of Large Club Deals.” 

The deal should close by the end of the third quarter.