Meet The 38-Year-Old Now Running Blackstone’s European Property Empire
Blackstone has reshuffled the senior management of its European real estate business.
Anthony Myers, who had led the European business for the past three years, steps into a new role as European real estate chairman.
James Seppala has been appointed head of real estate for Europe. He was previously head of European acquisitions and has spearheaded Blackstone’s forays into markets such as Spain, Italy, Germany and the Nordics.
Deals he has led include the purchase of a 51% stake in Banco Popular’s €10B real estate business; the €3.3B purchase of German office business OfficeFirst; the €1.8B purchase of listed Finnish company Sponda; and the purchase of more than €2B of Italian retail and office assets.
His ascension continues Blackstone’s tradition of backing young and talented employees — he is 38, and speaks five languages.
Under Myers’ leadership Blackstone has cemented its position as the biggest and one of the best investors in Europe. Its last three European funds have net returns of 17% to 22%, according to the company’s third-quarter results.
Last year it raised the largest-ever European fund, the €7.8B Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe V, and it has also raised its first-ever European core plus fund, Blackstone Property Partners Europe.
Seppala has a pretty decent war chest remaining to be invested — Blackstone’s European funds still have more than €7.5B available for investment, according to its Q3 report.
To hear from Seppala and other senior European investors, join us at Bisnow's London Capital Markets event on 22 February at 7.30am.
