Blackstone hires ex-JP Morgan banker as Japan chairman

He will advise and support Blackstone’s investing and capital raising efforts in the country as the firm looks to develop its local presence. Kuki was most recently chairman of banking for J.P. Morgan in Japan. He began his career at the Japan Development Bank and at Shearson Lehman Hutton in New York, and has also held senior leadership positions at UBS Securities and Lehman Brothers in Japan.

“Katsuyuki Kuki brings a wealth of insight to Blackstone from his 30 years of experience as a senior leader in Japan’s financial services industry. We look forward to his leadership and expertise in the country and greater Asia Pacific region, which is an increasingly important part of our business,” Stephen Schwarzman, chairman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, said in a statement.

The firm has more than $370 billion in assets under management globally across private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds. It has been particularly active in the Japanese real estate market since 2010, with announced and executed investments amounting to JPY650 billion ($5.7 billion) in transaction value.

Deals include the acquisition of General Electric’s Japan residential portfolio, the privatization of Japan Residential Investment Corporation, the proposed privatization of Croesus Retail Trust and the proposed acquisition of the real estate portfolio from Astro Japan Property Trust.

Blackstone has also established strong relationships with Japanese investors with over $15 billion of LP commitments sourced from the country since 2009.

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