Blackstone taps ex-Citibank Korea CEO as Seoul office head

The Blackstone Group has named Ha Yung-Ku, who had led Citibank Korea for nearly 14 years, as chairman of its South Korean operations as the US investment giant recently reopened its Korean office after eight years.

The appointment of the 68-year-old career banker is part of Blackstone's commitment to building strong relationships across the country's private and public sectors to expand its Korean presence, it said on April 27.

As the country's longest-serving banking CEO, Ha boasts a wide professional network and good relationships with government officials, business leaders and media.

Notably, he played an instrumental role in arranging a $30 billion currency swap deal between South Korea and the US during the global financial crisis in October 2008.

Starting his career at Citibank's Seoul office in 1981, he served five terms in a row as head of Citibank Korea between 2001 and 2014. Then he moved to the Korea Federation of Banks to chair the lobby group between 2014 and 2017.

He studied commerce and trade at Seoul National University and earned an MBA from Northwestern University.

Ha joined Blackstone in August 2021 as an executive advisor. 

HEADS OF REAL ESTATE, PRIVATE EQUITY

With the launch of the South Korean office, Blackstone created the Korea-dedicated real estate team. Chris Kim, who until recently had co-led Angelo Gordon's real estate business in Korea, has joined Blackstone as managing director and head of the newly created real estate team.

Eugene Cook, its private equity head for Korea, will continue to lead Blackstone's South Korean private equity business as managing director. 

"We are thrilled to expand our team in South Korea at an exciting time of growth for Blackstone in the market," its CEO and Chairman Stephen Schwarzman said in a statement.

"The extension of the team will significantly help our efforts to continue building strong relationships across the private and public sectors and find compelling investment opportunities."

The new hires come as South Korean pension funds and institutional investors are pushing global investment firms to have a local presence to keep them frequently updated on investments.

With $915 billion in assets under management, Blackstone's investments in South Korea include a 1.1 trillion won ($870 million) buyout of Geo-Young Corp., a medical goods wholesaler, and a stake purchase in Starfield Hanam, South Korea's largest shopping mall, for an unspecified amount. Both investments were made in 2019.

Last year, the world's largest alternative asset manager failed to exit from Simone Accessories Collection Ltd., a manufacturer of luxury leather goods, after the Korean company withdrew its IPO plan due to weak investor demand. In 2015, Blackstone bought a 30% stake in Simone for 300 billion won.

Meanwhile, Citibank Korea decided last October to shut down its consumer banking business in phases after it failed to find a buyer. It launched retail banking services in 2004 after acquiring then KorAm Bank.

Write to Jun-Ho Cha at chacha@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article