Blackstone appoints Tynan to lead Australia RE business

The New York-based private equity firm has appointed a key Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) executive to lead its real estate operations in Australia.  

The Blackstone Group has appointed Chris Tynan as the head of its real estate business in Australia as the firm charts an aggressive expansion strategy in the country.

Tynan joins from Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing where he headed the firm’s real estate investing team in Australia.

In a statement confirming the appointment, Chris Heady, Blackstone’s head of real estate for Asia said: “We are excited to have Chris Tynan join us as head of our Australian real estate business. We have built a substantial real estate platform here in core-plus and opportunistic equity as well as debt that we will continue to expand. Chris brings a great deal of local expertise that will help drive our Australian business to the next level.”

Tynan will be taking over from Paul Heller, who has left the firm. His next move isn’t known yet. “I also want to thank Paul Heller for all he has done to launch and build our real estate platform,” added Heady. “Paul started with Blackstone in 2008 in London and pioneered what is now a major Australian real estate business. We wish him the best of luck in the next stage of his career.”

Tynan joined the New York-headquartered investment bank Morgan Stanley in 2003 and became the head of MSREI’s Australia real estate investing team in 2011. Since then, he has overseen several key deals for the firm, the most recent being the landmark sale of the Investa Property Trust, the prime office portfolio in its Australian property company Investa Property Group, to China Investment Corporation (CIC) for A$2.45 billion (€1.61 billion; $1.78 billion).

He was also a key member of the deal team that steered the takeover of the Investa Property Group for A$6.6 billion right before the onset of the financial crisis in 2007.