(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Inc.’s head of European and APAC Private Credit Paulo Eapen is set to leave the firm.

Eapen will depart by the end of the year after 17 years at the company, a Blackstone spokesperson confirmed. Eapen also confirmed his departure when contacted by Bloomberg.

He has been instrumental in building the private credit markets outside of the United States over the past decade. Eapen first joined GSO Capital Partners in 2007, which was acquired by Blackstone and later rebranded to Blackstone Credit in 2020. 

He is stepping back for personal reasons, according to the Blackstone spokesperson. Eapen’s departure comes alongside the firm making broader changes to its credit business. It has been consolidating groups that invest in corporate credit and asset-based finance as well as a business that manages money for insurers under one chain of command, Bloomberg reported last week. 

“My last 17 years with Blackstone Credit have coincided with the establishment of private credit in Europe and the platform is going from strength to strength,” Eapen said in an emailed statement. “I look forward to watching the firm continue to scale and succeed.”

As part of the changes, insurance chief Gilles Dellaert, 44, was promoted to lead the combined unit overseeing almost $300 billion of assets — and set a goal to grow total credit assets to $1 trillion within a decade. Credit head Dwight Scott, 60, will become chairman of the business and will focus on key clients and the strategy for the division’s operations in Europe. 

When approached by Bloomberg News, Scott said that Blackstone has an exceptionally strong leadership team and will continue to grow and scale the business in Europe. “Credit is a major area of opportunity for the firm, particularly in Europe,” said Scott. 

Earlier this year, Blackstone Credit moved Michael Carruthers, a senior managing director, back to London from Toronto to strengthen the team in the region. The firm also hired Jane Bradshaw, formerly co-head of leveraged debt capital markets at Morgan Stanley, to become head of capital markets in the region.

(Updates with quote from Eapen in fifth paragraph)

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.