But, what is the interest of a basically, a private equity company, to go public? Its main advantage is been leveraged, isn’t it?

What I mean is that, a private equity bases its success in having a small WACC due to the high level of debt that it needs to make its purchases. This fact means that private equity can pay more money for an acquisition than other enterprises. If they look for finance going to public, issuing shares like a current company, will it not loosing its advantage?

Hi José. Thanks for your comment. Fortress Investment Group plans to raise $750 which means that investors will own 10 percent of Fortress after the initial public offering (IPO). On the other hand the amount they have under supervision amounts to 29 bns $.
Having said that it is not rare that private equity funds raise publicly money as it has recently happened with two New York-based buyout firms, Apollo Management LP and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. They both raised money for publicly traded funds in Amsterdam. Though none of these firms (contrary to Fortress) sold any shares in their management companies as Fortress is doing.
Fortress has said that “having publicly traded shares would help it compensate employees, raise capital and provide currency for future acquisitions. Proceeds will help it start funds to invest in infrastructure, real estate and structured debt and to selectively diversify our business”.
It is also understandable that partners might also want to cash in part or the managed experience they have built into the firms.