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Citigroup is hiring veteran banker Ravi Kapoor from rival DSP Merrill Lynch in the newly created role of equity capital markets head in India, the bank’s head of Asia-Pacific said on Wednesday.
Kapoor was with DSP Merrill, the Indian investment banking joint venture (JV) of Merrill Lynch, for nearly a decade and will enable Citigroup to focus more closely on the country’s growing markets, said Robert Morse, Asia-Pacific CEO for corporate and investment banking.
Kapoor was with the Merrill JV for nearly a decade, working on some of India’s biggest fund raisings.
Among his notable deals were the $1.2 billion IPO of TCS in August and the record $2.3 billion sale of a 10-per cent government stake in ONGC in March 2004.
Citigroup launched its India investment banking group in 2000 under Pramit Jhaveri, going it alone rather than teaming up in local JVs like Merrill, Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs.
Citigroup, the world’s most valuable financial services company, was the top M&A adviser in India the last two years but has trailed the three JVs in stock underwriting.
Meanwhile, DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd on Wednesday announced the appointment of Sanjay Sharma as head of equity origination and capital markets with immediate effect. Sharma replaces Ravi Kapoor who has quit the organisation. Sharma has been with the company for over 11 years and has worked on several Marquee transactions and held important positions within the firm, it said.
