Blackstone Rejigs Asia Real Estate Leadership as Alan Miyasaki Departs Singapore

Blackstone’s longtime head of acquisitions for Asia real estate, Alan Miyasaki, will leave his Singapore post in the coming months to return to the US, according to market sources who spoke to Mingtiandi.

Miyasaki is exiting the role after 18 years in the region to be closer to family, Mingtiandi understands. He is to be succeeded by Luigi Caruso, senior managing director and chief operating officer of European real estate at the Manhattan-based private equity titan.

Caruso will move from London to Singapore in January to take up the new role while Miyasaki, a 24-year Blackstone veteran, will remain with the firm through 2026, market sources said.

The changes were first reported by Bloomberg and come as Blackstone reshuffles its India team as well, with country head of real estate Tuhin Parikh set to transition to the newly created role of vice chairman of real estate for Asia and executive chairman of India real estate.

Front Row Seat

Charged with day-to-day management of Blackstone’s real estate investments in Asia, Miyasaki has been involved in building the business and executing the multibillion-dollar acquisitions of regional data centre platform AirTrunk, the Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho commercial complex and Australia’s Crown Resorts.

The graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School worked in acquisitions at private equity major Starwood Capital Group and as an associate at investment manager Cohen & Steers before joining Blackstone in 2007.

Caruso came to Blackstone in 2017 and served as the firm’s chief operating officer of asset management in Europe before being promoted to his current position.

After receiving a master’s degree in economics from Milan’s Bocconi University, Caruso worked as an analyst at Dutch bank ABN AMRO and was later an associate with Goldman Sachs’ real estate private equity group in London and a principal at fund manager Rhone Group in London and New York.

Mohta Moves Up

To succeed Parikh as head of real estate for India, Blackstone has tapped Asheesh Mohta, who steps into the role after serving as head of real estate acquisitions in the world’s most populous country.

Since both men joined Blackstone in 2007, the firm has grown into one of the biggest property investors in India, where the US giant pioneered the domestic REIT industry with the launch of the country’s first listed real estate trust, Embassy Office Parks, in 2018.

In March of this year, Blackstone filed a draft prospectus for its fourth India REIT, dubbed Knowledge Realty Trust, with the firm and co-sponsor Sattva Group seeking to raise INR 62 billion ($710 million) from the office trust’s initial public offering. The prospective IPO follows Blackstone’s sponsorship of Embassy REIT, Nexus and Mindspace Business Parks.

Blackstone declined to comment on the personnel moves. A person familiar with Blackstone’s thinking told Mingtiandi that the promotions of Parikh and Mohta were a reflection of the enormous momentum and growth in the firm’s India real estate business.