Blackstone Names Ex-Lego Family Money Manager as Senior Adviser
(Bloomberg) — Blackstone Inc. has named Thomas Schleicher, who manages the money of Lego A/S’s billionaire owners, as a senior adviser for its Nordic region.
A spokesperson for Blackstone confirmed the appointment, saying Schleicher will support the firm’s founding efforts and deepen investor engagement across the Nordic countries.
Schleicher was most recently chief investment officer of Kirkbi A/S, which oversees about 178 billion kroner ($28 billion) in assets on behalf of Denmark’s billionaire Kirk Kristiansen family, which controls the Lego toy maker. In 2019, Kirkbi teamed up with Blackstone for a £4.8 billion ($6.5 billion) private stake in theme park operator Merlin Entertainments, which owns Madame Tussauds and the London Eye.
Schleicher previously worked at private equity firm EQT AB. His appointment follows a series of senior appointments at Blackstone in Europe, where the company is preparing to invest $500 billion in the region over the next 10 years.
Blackstone’s Nordic portfolio covers a wide range of strategies, including real estate, infrastructure, private equity and growth investments. Blackstone and Permira agreed to acquire online classifieds company Adevinta ASA in 2023 for about €14 billion ($16.6 billion), including debt.
The investment firm is also working on a large-scale data center project in Forssa, Finland, which is expected to be one of the largest developments in Europe.
In November, Blackstone appointed former Morgan Stanley rainmaker Franck Petitgas to the newly created role of vice president of Europe. His appointment follows Blackstone’s former Apollo Global Management Inc. It comes just weeks after it hired manager Michele Raba as head of European institutional private equity.
Blackstone also added Jon Abrahamsson Ring as senior advisor to its global consumer franchise. He was previously chief executive officer of Inter IKEA Group, the furniture retailer’s worldwide franchisee.
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