Warburg Pincus is hiring Goldman Sachs Group Inc. veteran Takashi Murata as co-head of Asia real estate to bolster its business in the region and build out its private equity and real estate investments in Japan.
(Bloomberg) — Warburg Pincus is hiring Goldman Sachs Group Inc. veteran Takashi Murata as co-head of Asia real estate to bolster its business in the region and build out its private equity and real estate investments in Japan.
Murata, 49, will join the company early next year to co-lead the Asia real estate operation with Warburg Pincus veteran Ellen Ng, who was previously head of China real estate, the company said in a statement on Monday. This is the firm’s first Asia appointment following the promotion of Jeff Perlman, the former head of Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific real estate, to president.
“We believe Tak and Ellen’s complimentary expertise is the perfect partnership to help drive and further develop our Asia Real Estate business,” Chip Kaye, chief executive officer of Warburg Pincus, and Perlman, said in a memo.
Murata brings decades of experience in the region and Japan, a market where Warburg Pincus is looking to expand. He previously served as co-head of Asia Pacific Private Investing and global co-head of Real Estate at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Ng, 42, who is based in Hong Kong, joined Warburg Pincus in 2005.
Warburg Pincus is one of the largest global investors in Asia. Since it first established presence in Asia in 1994, the company has invested more than $30 billion into more than 300 companies across the region.
It’s been backing Asia real estate companies for more than 15 years, with more than $8 billion invested in more than 60 real estate ventures. Among them are ESR Group Ltd., Vincom Retail, Princeton Digital Group Pte and DNE Group.
In 2021, Warburg Pincus closed its inaugural Asia Real Estate Fund at $2.8 billion.
Murata joined Goldman in Tokyo in 1998 as one of the founding members of the Asian Special Situations Group and was focusing on developing the business in Australia and New Zealand and became the group’s head in 2018. Prior to this, he worked at Secured Capital Corp. in Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Ng, a former Merrill Lynch’s banker, has played a key role in growing the firm’s real estate activities across Asia in the past 18 years. She also leads the firm’s global women’s initiatives.
Warburg’s Asia real estate team also has partners Qiqi Zhang, Fan Li and Chloe Zhang looking after the sector.
The firm earlier this year also hired Gaurav Seth from Goldman for its capital solutions group.
(Add first Asia senior appointment in second paragraph and Murata and Ng’s background in 10th paragraph.)
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