The veteran deal maker is likely to launch the fund next month.
Hemendra Kothari, the veteran deal maker, is likely to bring in Rajeev Gupta, currently managing director and head of the India Buyout team at Carlyle, for a family fund he has planned to launch next year, according to the grapevine in private equity circles.
The fund is reportedly to be launched next month. Kothari is currently non-executive chairman of DSP BlackRock Investment Managers.
However, the principals deny the report. When asked, Gupta, said, “This is just a rumour and the information is untrue.” Kothari said, “I have not decided whether to set up a team to manage the fund. It is too early to talk about the plans.”
A mail sent to Dorothy Lee, Carlyle’s director of corporate communications in Asia, did not elicit any response.
Gupta, 52, enjoyed a long association with DSP Merrill Lynch (DSPML), a leading investment bank built up by Kothari. He quit DSPML as joint managing director and head of investment banking in 2005 and joined Carlyle. Gupta had been with Kothari, from 1995 to 2005. A 1988-batch IIM-Ahmedabad graduate, he joined DSPML as his first job.
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When at DSPML, Gupta had led several large merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions. These included the acquisition of ACC by Holcim, of Hughes Telecom by Tata Teleservices Ltd, merger of ICICI bank and Bank of Madura and the acquisition of Tisco by Lafarge. He had set up the M&A business of DSPML in 1996.
According to industry experts, Gupta is the right choice for Kothari, as they’ve good rapport.
Hemendra Bhai, as he is known in the PE circle, is said to be setting up a family fund to nurture innovative start-up companies by young entrepreneurs. The size has not been fixed, say the reports.
Kothari started DSP Financial Consultants in the late 1970s, sold 40 per cent in it to Merrill Lynch in 1995, which was renamed DSP Merrill Lynch. Later, he sold another 48 per cent stake in DSPML to Merrill Lynch in 2006. In March 2009, he sold the remaining 10 per cent to them, too, and retired from there as chairman. He is still non-executive chairman of the asset management firm, DSP Blackrock.
Executives who had quit key positions in multinational PE firms to pursue independent businesses in the recent past include P R Srinivasan, the former managing director, Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVCI), who set up Exponentia Capital; Rajesh Khanna, former India head of Warburg Pincus, who set up Arka Capital; Harsha Raghavan, former India head of Candover, who set up Steer capital; Ajay Relan, former head of CVCI, who set up CX Partners; and Raul R Rai, managing director of General Atlantic LLC.