(Bloomberg) — Blackstone Inc. is changing the leadership of a team that buys stakes in other private equity firms.
Executives told employees that Mustafa Siddiqui, who led the business, decided to leave, according to people familiar with the matter.
The alternative-asset manager is shifting the group out of the hedge fund investing unit led by Joe Dowling. Josh Blaine, a senior executive who oversees secondaries bets, will be in charge, some of the people said. The team will now be under the secondaries arm, led by Verdun Perry, which buys and builds portfolios of fund assets.
Blackstone and Siddiqui didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.
The move is an attempt to reinvigorate a group that’s facing more competition for deals and talent. The business has let Blackstone wager on the growth of other private equity firms, such as GTCR, Sentinel Capital Partners and FTV Capital.
But in recent years, several dealmakers and executives left to join competitors. Blackstone held off on the launch of its latest fund focused on stakes in other private equity firms as it prepared to change management.
Top executives determined it makes sense to pair a business that acquires stakes in private equity shops with a group that has longstanding ties across the industry. Perry’s business collected $22.2 billion last year for one of the biggest secondaries funds on record.
Blackstone is continuing to hunt for deals for its latest stakes fund, which closed in 2021 with $5.6 billion, and it plans to forge ahead with a new fund, some of the people said. Its stakes in private equity firms have generated a net internal rate of return of about 17%, one of the people said.
Siddiqui, who previously worked at the firm’s private equity arm, was named to lead the stakes unit in 2020. His deputy, Ward Young, will become the team’s investment chief, the person said.
The firm is also shifting its master limited partnerships business, previously run under the credit operation, to its hedge fund arm.
–With assistance from Erin Fuchs.
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