(Fortune Magazine) — On the night before Fortress Investment Group became the first hedge fund to trade on the New York Stock Exchange, Wesley Edens and the other four principals celebrated in a manner that befits the firm’s intentionally low-key profile. They gathered at a bar on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

By the next day’s closing bell, though, Edens could afford more than just beer and pretzels: His shares from the IPO were worth approximately $2.3 billion. Six weeks later, on March 22, Blackstone Group followed suit when the private-equity shop revealed plans to raise $4 billion in an upcoming IPO.

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On the night before Fortress Investment Group became the first hedge fund to trade on the New York Stock Exchange, Wesley Edens and the other four principals celebrated in a manner that befits the firm’s intentionally low-key profile. They gathered at a bar on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

By the next day’s closing bell, though, Edens could afford more than just beer and pretzels: His shares from the IPO were worth approximately $2.3 billion. Six weeks later, on March 22, Blackstone Group followed suit when the private-equity shop revealed plans to raise $4 billion in an upcoming IPO.

Since that news broke, Wall Street has been buzzing about who will be the next firm to announce plans for an IPO and invite the public into a world once reserved for high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors.

Fortune has learned that Avenue Capital, Perry Capital and the Citadel Investment Group are leading contenders among hedge funds. These firms are some of the largest funds in the U.S., each controlling more than $10 billion in assets, and Avenue and Perry have recently diversified into private equity and real estate, providing the growth profile prized by public investors.

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