James Schaefer to Join Blackstone Advisory Partners
New York, NY, January 9, 2014. Blackstone Advisory Partners (“BAP”), an affiliate of Blackstone (NYSE:BX), today announced that James (“Jim”) Schaefer has joined as a Senior Managing Director. He is based in New York and leads BAP’s Energy, Power and Renewables Advisory Practice. He brings to Blackstone extensive expertise in energy-related mergers, acquisitions and financing, developed over his more than 18 years in the financial services industry.
Mr. Schaefer most recently served as the Global Head of the Power and Renewable Energy Group at UBS. Mr. Schaefer’s strategic advisory experience includes advising OGE Corporation on its $11 billion joint venture with CenterPoint, advising Constellation Energy on its $4.5 billion nuclear business joint venture with EdF and its $1.1 billion acquisition of Boston Gen, advising US Bioenergy in its $2.9 billion merger with VeraSun, and advising Avista on its recently announced acquisition of Alaska Energy and Resources Company. He also led financings for Ameren, Exelon, Consolidated Edison, and Westar Energy, amongst others.
Previously, Mr. Schaefer worked in the power groups at Lehman Brothers, Salomon Brothers and Chase. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from the University of Vermont.
John Studzinski, Global Head of Blackstone Advisory Partners, said, “We could not be more pleased to bring Jim’s formidable experience and reputation to Blackstone’s advisory practice as we further establish our team as an industry leader within the energy, power and renewables space. Jim’s talents, leadership and formidable CEO network will be critical to accelerating our success and raising the firm’s profile in this area. We anticipate adding further professionals to our energy and power team in the near term, as this is one of our core industry areas of excellence.”
Jim Schaefer added, “I am delighted to join Blackstone, a firm with an unrivaled track-record for offering objective and differentiated advice to its clients on their most complex strategic initiatives. I am pleased to join Blackstone’s exceptional advisory practice, and to help the group take advantage of the tremendous opportunity to grow its energy, power and renewables practice in the coming years.”
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