Top level private equity appointments lead Mingtiandi’s roundup of personnel moves this week with KKR’s former Asia leader stepping up to co-CEO at the New York giant, and a fund manager from Boston has named a Japan boss as it opens its first office in Tokyo. There’s also another mainland developer shedding directors and Huazhu Hotels has hired a CapitaLand veteran to head its international business.
Former KKR Asia chief Joseph Bae has been named the US private equity firm’s co-chief executive, joining with fellow co-CEO Scott Nuttall to succeed founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts, who have shifted into executive co-chairmen roles. Now 49, Bae had been a KKR co-president since 2017 and has been credited with building the firm’s Asia presence during his twenty-five years with the buyout specialist.
US private equity fund manager Columbia Threadneedle officially began operating in Japan on 1 October and is opening an office in Tokyo headed by company veteran Yoshihisa Kojima. In a release announcing the move, the Boston-based firm said Kojima will serve as representative director and chief executive for Japan as the company moves to enhance its services to clients in the country.
Glory Sun Land vice chairman and executive director Zhang Xiaodong has resigned from the developer effective 12 October, according to an announcement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Zhang’s departure comes as the unit of one-time corporate raider Baoneng Group saw its sister company, Baoneng Motors Group, fail to pay interest due on a $434 million trust loan last week. Like China Evergrande, Baoneng Group is accused of failing to pay staff and is being hounded by creditors and suppliers over unpaid obligations.
Nasdaq-listed Huazhu Hotels Group announced recently that former CapitaLand executive He Jihong has joined the mainland hospitality management firm as chief executive officer for international business. Before joining Huazhu, which owns the Hi Inn, Hanting Hotel and other mainland hospitality brands, He had spent the past two years as chief corporate strategy officer and chief executive officer for data centres at CapitaLand, after previously serving as chief investment officer with Ascendas-Singbridge before that firm merged with the Singapore giant.
Aaron Ni has joined Brookfield Asset Management in Shanghai as senior director for logistics transaction management, according to an update to his LinkedIn profile. Ni rejoined the Canadian investment manager after around one and a half years at CBRE Global Investors (now CBRE Investment Management). Earlier Ni had spent around two years at Prologis in Shanghai after filling in for a seven month stint at Brookfield starting in late 2017. The 17-year industry veteran also has experience at GLP, JLL and CBRE.
Savills Hong Kong announced earlier this month that Cherrie Lai has been appointed senior director of residential development and investment. Lai joined the Savills team this month after consulting independently for nearly seven years on projects in Hong Kong and Macau. Earlier, Lai had spent more than 16 years at Hongkong Land, where she worked her way up to head of residential properties before leaving in 2014.
Savills has hired former JLL Indonesia executive Jack Harkness as director for regional industrial and logistics services, according to a statement by the company late last week. Harkness will soon be based in Singapore covering industrial services across the region. The hire comes soon after Savills acquired an interest in Southeast Asia supply chain consulting firm LCA. Harkness had served as a director with JLL’s APAC industrial team in Jakarta for more than four years.
If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.
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