Blackstone hires ex-Morgan Stanley exec as Europe vice chairman

Blackstone has named Franck Petitgas, a former Morgan Stanley executive, as vice chairman for Europe as the firm plans to invest up to US$500 billion in the region over the next decade.

Petitgas, who spent 30 years at Morgan Stanley and previously led its investment bank, will start his new role as senior managing director and vice chairman, Europe, in January.

He will work with Blackstone’s leadership on strategy, and engage with clients and business leaders across Europe.

Blackstone manages over US$350 billion in Europe across private equity, real estate, credit, and infrastructure.

The firm has appointed Michele Raba, formerly of Apollo Global Management, as head of European corporate private equity; she will take up the role next year, succeeding Lionel Assant.

Petitgas has also served as a business adviser to the UK government, and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2024.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Blackstone’s $500bn Europe pledge hinges on $65bn dry powder and accelerating deployment pace

Blackstone’s $500 billion Europe target over ten years implies $50 billion a year. It holds about $65 billion in real estate dry powder (capital raised but not yet invested) 1, and in 2024 it put about $10 billion into European private credit (direct lending by investment firms rather than banks) across 40 deals 2.
It already manages over $350 billion in Europe, and it closed a record €9.8 billion European real estate fund during a market downturn 3. Meeting the pledge likely needs faster deployment across asset classes.
Europe trades at a discount to the US, and buyer seller gaps are narrowing 4. Its themes include digital infrastructure, energy transition, and transportation infrastructure 5. About 80% of its real estate portfolio spans logistics and residential 1. The rest covers hospitality & leisure plus data centres and life sciences 1.

Tech infrastructure operators can capture partnerships by mapping Blackstone’s active themes and recent mega-deals

Plans for a $5 billion Spain data center expansion and a $25 billion Pennsylvania commitment 6 signal a push into AI infrastructure. Data volume doubles about every three years, and power demand is rising 7.
In Spain it plans water free cooling and has contracts that guarantee renewable electricity for the sites 6. The firm links digital buildouts with power investments across generation, grid, and storage 7.
Blackstone runs a $140 billion infrastructure platform that targets Core+ assets (mature, lower-risk infrastructure with modest growth) with stable cash flows 8. It spans over 29,000 cell towers via Phoenix Tower International (a wireless tower operator) and the largest North American marine terminal operator Carrix (parent of SSA Marine) 5.