Blackstone offloads Asian advisory business

The Blackstone Group has spun off its Asian advisory business to Comprador.

The Hong Kong-based M&A advisory business will be led by Anthony Steains, according to a statement. Financial details of the deal were undisclosed. A spokesperson for Blackstone did not respond to a request for comment at press time.

Comprador will build upon the business of Blackstone Advisory Partners Asia, primarily advising blue-chip corporates in greater China and Korea on large and complex outbound merger and acquisition transactions. Steains, a 20 year veteran of Asian M&A, headed Blackstone Advisory Partners Asia and previously held senior roles at Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, ING and Barings.

“We are delighted that Tony has taken the initiative to transfer the Asia business, which his team has built over the last six years, to establish Comprador,” Stephen Schwarzman, chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Blackstone, said in the statement.

“The M&A advisory market in Asia has evolved dramatically over the last two decades, with ever more sophisticated clients undertaking increasingly complex deals which demand precisely the sort of thoughtful, conflict-free, experienced advice we provide. Since the global financial crisis, most of the major investment banks have re-restructured their M&A teams, creating an exciting opportunity for specialist firms to offer bespoke advisory services,” Steains, chairman and chief executive officer of Comprador said, adding that Comprador looks forward to “a close association” [with Blackstone] in the future.

The carve-out comes as part of the spin-off of Blackstone’s restructuring and advisory business that the group first announced last October. Blackstone then said it approved a plan to offload its financial and strategic advisory services, restructuring and reorganisation advisory services, and its Park Hill fund placement businesses and combine these businesses with PJT Partners, an independent financial advisory firm founded by Paul Taubman, previously a banker at Morgan Stanley. The spin out also includes Blackstone’s Park Hill fund placement business, a transaction expected to close in 2015.