Borja Arteaga and Albert Fenandez join Blackstone Advisory Partners in Madrid

The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) announces that it is expanding and strengthening its international Blackstone Advisory Partners network with the appointment of Borja Arteaga as Senior Managing Director and Albert Fernandez as Managing Director to be based in Madrid. Mr. Arteaga will be heading Blackstone’s restructuring and M&A advisory business in the Iberian Peninsula.

John Studzinski, Global Head of Blackstone Advisory Partners commented: “Borja and Albert have outstanding reputations as advisors in Spain. They understand the corporate landscape and its particular requirements, and have excellent relationships with all the major corporates and investors, having been involved in many high profile situations. We look forward to working closely with them and believe that Spain has excellent prospects for Blackstone both from an advisory and an investing standpoint.”

Martin Gudgeon, Head of Blackstone’s European Restructuring Group, added: “We are very pleased that Borja and Albert have joined Blackstone to lead our advisory offering in the Iberian Peninsula. We know they will be welcomed by our clients in this important strategic development of our business.”

Borja Arteaga commented: “Albert and I are delighted to join Blackstone. Blackstone has outstanding people and reputation and the advisory business is unique due to its independence, superior global reach and execution capabilities and creativity of thought.”

Borja Arteaga has over 20 years of corporate finance advisory experience in the Spanish market. He has been at Rothschild for the past 13 years and most recently was co-heading the Spanish operations. Prior to that, he worked at Goldman Sachs and Santander. He has an MBA from INSEAD and a double major in law and business from ICADE in Madrid.

Albert Fernandez has been at Rothschild for the past eight years and, prior to that, worked at McKinsey and JP Morgan. He has an MBA from Darden and a major in industrial engineering from UPC in Barcelona.

Together, they have led a number of high profile transactions in Spain and focused on M&A, restructuring, equity and refinancing transactions for corporates across a wide range of sectors including consumer, healthcare, retail, media and infrastructure sectors as well as for financial sponsors. Recent transactions in which they have been involved include: the investment of Eurazeo in Desigual; the merger of the Iberian Coca Cola bottlers; the refinancing of Prisa; the public offer for Campofrio; Doughty Hanson’s investments in Quiron, USP and Teknon; and Santander’s investment in Bank of Shanghai.

The team in Madrid will be reinforced with Juan Sierra. Mr. Sierra has been with Blackstone Advisory Partners since 2008 and has already relocated to Madrid. He has advised on a wide range of M&A and restructuring assignments including advising on the sale of Mivisa to Crown Holdings, Actavis on its sale to Watson Pharmaceuticals, Essentra on the acquisition of Contego Healthcare, BAA on its strategic refinancing alternatives, buyVIP! on its sale to Amazon.com and Preem bondholders on the company's 2012 refinancing.

About Blackstone Advisory Partners:
Blackstone Advisory Partners provides comprehensive strategic solutions to its clients around the world. Since its formation in 1985, the business has participated in over $550 billion worth of corporate advisory transactions. The advisory team possesses a wide array of specialised industry knowledge and expertise in a broad range of financial and strategic services, including M&A activity, spin-offs, private placements, structured products and other transactions. This solutions-focused approach allows Blackstone Advisory Partners to add value on both merger and financing assignments for a diverse set of corporate, investment, and government clients. Founded on the principle of providing comprehensive, strategic, conflict-free solutions, Blackstone Advisory Partners affords its clients the benefit of Blackstone’s global network, deep sector expertise and an owner mentality.