Blackstone reaches $2bn deal for Vivint Blackstone has reached an agreement to buy control of home security provider Vivint for more than $2bn, including debt, placing a big bet on the burgeoning market for so-called "connected home" technologies. The deal, expected to be announced on Wednesday, will see Blackstone buy out current majority owners Goldman Sachs, Jupiter Partners and Peterson Partners. Vivint management owns a substantial stake in the company and much of that equity will be rolled into the new ownership structure. First reported by Reuters, the deal was confirmed to the Financial Times by a person familiar with the situation. Todd Pederson, Vivint's chief executive, later confirmed the deal in an interview with the New York Times. "It's a great opportunity for our existing partners to exit with a great return," he said. And for Blackstone, there's a fantastic future return on its investment. As private equity activity has picked up in recent months, Blackstone has not been among the most active firms. That has led to some of the firm's limited partners putting pressure on Blackstone to become more active, both in making new investments and exiting current ones. With a reliable cash flow from subscribers, Vivint fits the profile of a company favoured by private equity firms. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization are about $260m a year, and the company said it trails only market leader ADT in recurrent revenues. Vivint, based in Utah, expects to have more than 700,000 subscribers by the time the deal closes. It will use the investment from Blackstone to ramp up new product offerings, including solar panel management. Blackstone beat out two other buyout firms, Ares and GTCR, in an auction. Vivint was advised by Bank of America and Citi. Additional reporting by Henny Sender