CPI Asia head Hansoty to leave and go it alone

The fallout from Apollo’s purchase of Citi Property Investors continues as head of Asia Ravi Hansoty hands in his notice. Hansoty is expected to launch his own platform once the takeover is completed.


Ravi Hansoty, the head of Asia at Citi Property Investors (CPI), is to leave the platform once its sale to New York-based Apollo Global Management is completed.

Hansoty is likely to launch his own real estate investment management business and stay based in Hong Kong, sources said.

He was given the task of leading the Asia platform, which included the management of its $1.29 billion CPI Capital Partners Asia Pacific, after his predecessor David Schaefer departed in April 2009.

Prior to that, he was head of India and before joining the firm in 2005, he worked for Morgan Stanley and Chicago-based developer The John Buck Company.

His departure comes three months after Citigroup agreed to sell CPI to Apollo Global Management. Even before the deal was struck in April, Apollo had identified former Colony Capital Asia head Grant Kelley as the man to lead its efforts in the region.

Through the hire of Kelley and his seven-strong team at start-up business, Holdfast Capital, Apollo is adopting a strategy of investing in Asia’s established markets such as Japan, Korea and Australia. With Hansoty more focused on countries like India and China it was widely expected he would join the list of senior executives to have departed CPI either leading up to the Apollo merger or following it.

Others to have left CPI in recent months include chief finance officer for Asia Marco Ho, head of China, Wendy Yao and head of North America Larry Ellman.