Blackstone Advisory Partners has appointed Karl Knapp as a senior managing director based in New York to head up the group’s global industrials practice.
Knapp brings over 20 years of dedicated industry experience, most recently as the head of the global industrials group at UBS and a vice chairman of UBS’ investment banking division.
Transactions led by Knapp include: advising Anglo-American Corporation on its USD8bn demerger of its paper and packaging subsidiary, Mondi; Stora-Enso on the sale of its North American Papers Division for USD2.5bn; International Paper on its USD4.3bn acquisition of Temple-Inland; and, most recently, advising Koch Industries’ Georgia-Pacific division on its USD1.5bn acquisition of Buckeye Technologies.
Knapp started his career at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette and EF Hutton and Company, and worked as a senior banker at Morgan Stanley until 2002, when he joined UBS Investment Bank.
John Studzinski, global head of Blackstone Advisory Partners, says: “Karl’s long experience and track record advising CEOs, companies and Boards will enable Blackstone’s Advisory practice to operate at another level within the industrial space; his strong industry knowledge in the areas of paper and packaging, building products and diversifieds will also allow us to make further inroads in these important industrial sectors. There is no question that Karl’s addition will make a material impact on our commercial and strategic platform.”
Knapp says: “I am delighted to join Blackstone, a firm with an unparalleled reputation for providing objective and differentiated advice to its clients on their most complex strategic assignments. I look forward to working with the talented team at Blackstone Advisory Partners and helping the group grow its industrials practice in the years ahead.”
