Blackstone hires Katsuyuki Kuki to continue growth in Japan

Blackstone announced that Katsuyuki Kuki will join Blackstone as chairman and representative director for Japan.

Kuki will advise and support Blackstone’s investing and capital raising efforts in Japan as the firm continues to expand its presence in the country.

Prior to Blackstone, Kuki was the chairman of banking at J.P. Morgan in Japan and spent nine years at the company in various leadership roles within their Investment Banking division. He began his career at the Japan Development Bank and at Shearson Lehman Hutton in New York, and he has also held senior leadership positions at UBS Securities and Lehman Brothers in Japan.

Kuki has a B.A. degree in international relations from the University of Tokyo and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Blackstone has been one of the most active investors in the Japanese real estate market since 2010 and has committed more than JPY 650 billion ($5.7 billion) of total transaction value, which includes the acquisition of the GE 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 more than $15 billion of limited partner capital raised since 2009.