Gelli's son to join GTB board

It will be a comeback of sorts for Ramesh Gelli, the founder and main promoter of the Hyderabad-based Global Trust Bank (GTB), after a gap of more than two years.

Girish, the elder son of Ramesh Gelli, is all set to join the GTB board soon. The bank will seek shareholders' approval at its annual general meeting (AGM) on December 24 for Girish's appointment as non-executive director.

Sudhakar Gande, managing director of the bank, could not be reached for comments. The board, which had four directors from the core promoters' group at one point of time, at present, has no representation from the Gelli family.

Though T Parimala Anand, sister of Ramesh Gelli, has been on the board since June 2001, she is not considered a part of the core promoter group.

Girish Gelli did his masters in business administration at Asian Institute of Management, Manila, in 1998, and worked for Northwest Mutual Life, an American life insurance subsidiary based in Manila for over a year.

He was associated with GTB as head of insurance and risk management for about 2 years, and is now working on his own as a management consultant with a focus on insurance, banking and business outsourcing.

"The move to induct Girish on the board is initiated at a time when the bank is planning to mobilise additional capital. As there is a proposal to come out with a rights issue, the promoters and their close associates felt that there is a need to induct someone from the core promoters' group. It will also infuse confidence among them and make them to invest further through rights issue. However, Girish Gelli will hold office only as non-executive director," a source associated with the development said.

Ramesh Gelli and his close associates, who are classified as core promoters, currently hold a little over 20 per cent stake in GTB.

According to sources, GTB is likely to come out with a rights issue in June-July next year, after inducting the strategic foreign partners with a 49 per cent stake. The strategic partner is likely to be finalised by January-end, the sources added.

Besides the appointment of Girish, GTB is also seeking shareholders' nod at the AGM to appoint Pamidi Kotaiah, Sailendra Narain and Soma Dayanand as directors.