Apollo Bets on Emerging Markets With Ex-JPMorgan Trader

Leon Black, who made billions by buying up debt of companies in the U.S. and Europe that others deemed worthless, is turning to emerging markets as the next source of growth for his $161 billion money management firm.

Apollo Global Management LLC, the private equity and distressed debt specialist co-founded by Black, is starting a unit to primarily buy investment-grade and high-yield corporate debt from Latin America and Asia, according to Tolga Uzuner, the 41-year-old heading the group. The New York-based firm will also invest in infrastructure, project financing and special situations, said Uzuner, a former managing director in the London branch of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s chief investment office.