Global firms appoint top India deal makers as Asia heads amid deal surge
Amit Dixit, who heads Asia for Blackstone Private Equity, joined the firm in 2007 and has led various investments in South Asia. Photo: Bloomberg
Some of the world’s largest private equity firms and investment banks are intensifying their focus on India, with senior leadership from top Asia divisions now based in the country. Firms such as KKR & Co, Blackstone Inc., and more recently Carlyle are expanding the roles of their top executives to oversee the region, driven by a surge in significant transactions from India.
For instance, Amit Dixit, who heads Asia for Blackstone Private Equity, joined the firm in 2007 and has led various investments in South Asia and global tech-enabled services. Similarly, Gaurav Trehan joined KKR & Co in 2020 from TPG and has quickly risen to Partner, Co-Head of KKR Asia Pacific, in addition to being designated CEO of KKR India.
KKR also appointed Hardik Shah as a Partner on its Asia-Pacific Infrastructure team, moving from Macquarie’s Sydney office to the Mumbai branch, where he focuses on investments in South Asia. Previously, Shah spent over a decade at Macquarie, helping to build their India infrastructure business. Last week, Carlyle appointed Anuj Poddar to the newly created position of Co-Head of Global Portfolio Solutions for Asia, focusing on India and Southeast Asia.
Analysts indicate that with deal-making in China slowing and a lack of significant deals elsewhere in Southeast Asia, private equity firms are empowering their top Indian leadership by appointing them as Asia heads.
Both Blackstone and KKR have been the largest investors in India over the past few years, with Blackstone investing $50 billion in the region and planning to invest another $25 billion in the next five years. KKR has deployed $11 billion in India over the last two decades and plans to invest an additional $10 billion at a faster pace.
“Almost all global private equity funds have large India offices that have been operating for over a decade. Given the larger opportunities in India relative to other Asian countries, most global private equity funds have chosen India heads to oversee the region,” said Bhavin Shah, Partner and Leader – Private Equity and Deals at PwC India.
“This choice also reflects the strong performance demonstrated through multiple exits with high dollar returns for Indian portfolios by these leaders. Unlike in the past, when there was a preference for regional leads to operate from Singapore or Hong Kong, these senior professionals now prefer to operate from India due to both social and business reasons. It is very encouraging and fulfilling to see Indian talent in leadership positions at both Asia and global levels,” Shah added.
A former head of a large private equity firm noted that as the Indian economy is poised to lead the Asian region, positions for India heads are being rebranded as Asia heads, even though most work will still be centred in India. “We have seen several billion-dollar deals in India, either via fresh investments or exits. It makes sense for private equity firms to bring their Asia heads to India, as deals in China are down and there is little activity in Southeast Asia,” he said, requesting anonymity. “Even those based in Singapore often work on India deals,” he added.
An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals database found that India, Singapore, China, South Korea, and Australia were the top five Asia-Pacific (APAC) markets for total private equity investments from January to August 2024. In the same period last year, China topped the league table while India was in second place. Notably, these countries have consistently ranked among the top five during this period over the past two years, despite some shifts in their individual rankings.
Interestingly, fresh private equity investments in India have slowed since January this year compared to last year, but exits have increased due to very high valuations.
First Published: Sep 19 2024 | 1:59 PM IST