Carlyle Group's Patrick Siewert, one of the most senior executives of the buyout firm in Asia-Pacific, is stepping down after 16 years in Hong Kong to become a senior adviser.
Mr. Siewert will retire as partner and head of consumer, media and retail next month. The moves comes as the firm is raising its biggest ever buyout fund in the region while wrestling with a global slump in dealmaking.
"We thank him for his significant contributions throughout the years," said Asia Chairman Yang Xiangdong, confirming the shift in an emailed response to questions. Mr. Siewert will move into a senior adviser role on the consumer industry sector, he said.
Demand for seasoned executives with deep experience in the industry is increasing as private equity firms focus more on creating value from existing investments as they can no longer bet on high multiples to generate returns as growth in Asia slows. Siewert's global counterpart, Jay W. Sammons, left the company last year to start a new venture.
Mr. Siewert, a former Coca-Cola Co. executive, joined Carlyle in 2007 as partner and led investments including the acquisition of McDonald's Chinese operations with Citic Capital, and Golden Goose Deluxe Brand in 2017. The fund sold the Italian luxury fashion company to Permira Holdings three years later.
"He is one of the few operators that was able to re-invent himself into a proficient investor," said Mac El-Omari, a former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. banker who advised Carlyle on the McDonald's purchase. "He was able to bring the two parties together by instilling trust and acting as mediator between the two companies."
Mr. Siewert also sits on the board of Mondelez International and Avery Dennison. He was a former group president and chief operating officer for Coca-Cola in Asia ex-Japan and started his career at Eastman Kodak in 1974.
