The Blackstone Group announced yesterday that it had raised $6.45 billion for its latest private investment fund — the largest private equity fund ever raised.

The record fund-raising effort came despite the market’s continued decline and yearlong drought for deals. The enormous size of the fund, called Blackstone Capital Partners IV, surprised many on Wall Street because so many private equity firms have struggled in recent months to raise money.

The market’s collapse may prove to be an opportunity for private equity firms to acquire companies and business divisions at fire-sale prices. Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone’s chief executive, said he hoped to find opportunities among the dozens of public companies that are now struggling to pay off debt and may try to sell assets to raise cash quickly.

”This should be a good cycle for people who have money,” he said. ”Historically, people have done well with this asset class coming out of a recession.”

Blackstone and several other firms have already begun efforts to buy assets from distressed companies. Blackstone is one of the leading bidders for Qwest Communications International’s phone directory business, according to executives close to the auction. Qwest put the unit up for sale to help it pay off its $26 billion debt load.

Blackstone’s new fund tops the $6.1 billion raised by Thomas H. Lee Partners of Boston in its Equity V fund in 2001 and moves Blackstone’s total private equity funds to more than $14 billion.

Mr. Schwarzman said that more than $4 billion of the fund-raising effort had been completed before the end of 2001.

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