Blackstone appoints Franck Petitgas as Europe vice chair

(Reuters) -Blackstone appointed Franck Petitgas as a senior managing director and vice chairman of Europe, it said on Friday, to strengthen strategic initiatives and client engagement in the region. 

Petitgas, who will take up the newly created role in January, joins Blackstone after 30 years at Morgan Stanley, where he held several roles including head of Morgan Stanley International and co-head of the firm's Global Investment Banking, Blackstone said in a statement.

Following his retirement from Morgan Stanley in 2023, Petitgas was named chief business adviser by former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and in the following year, he was appointed to the House of Lords.

Blackstone currently sees opportunities to invest over $500 billion in European assets over the next decade.

(Reporting by Rishab Shaju in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)