Blackstone China Real Estate Boss Tim Wang Leaving Firm at Year-End

The head of Blackstone’s real estate business in mainland China is leaving the firm, Mingtiandi has learned, with ten-year company veteran Tim Wang due to leave the company by the end of this year, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke with Mingtiandi.

The senior managing director is said to be leaving to take time off, and the company has yet to name a replacement for Wang, who joined the firm from Merrill Lynch in 2010.

Blackstone’s biggest mainland deal this year, a proposed $4 billion buyout of commercial developer Soho China, was called off in August as it apparently fell victim to the coronavirus, which has readjusted values for real estate assets around the region.

Sources at Blackstone declined to comment when contacted by Mingtiandi, and Wang, who is based in Hong Kong, was not available directly. The news was first reported by Bloomberg.

Overseeing Blackstone’s Mainland Portfolio

During his time leading Blackstone’s China real estate strategy, Wang has been responsible for developing, and later exiting residential, commercial and industrial real estate platforms.

While the Soho China deal fell short this year, the company announced in June that it had invested $150 million to purchase a stake in NASDAQ-listed mainland data centre developer 21Vianet Group through a private placement.

In early 2019 the firm had spent $480 million to purchase a 50 percent stake in the Asia holdings of US mall developer Taubman Centers, which included ownership slices in a pair of mainland China malls.

In December 2018 the Manhattan-based private equity giant invested $1.25 billion to acquire five buildings in the Mapletree Business City complex, along with the adjacent Vivocity shopping mall from Mapletree Investments. That development in southwestern Shanghai has since been renamed Westlink.

Before joining Blackstone, Wang had spent more than three years at Merrill Lynch. A graduate of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Wang also holds master’s degree from Australia’s Curtin University.