Barclays hires Credit Suisse dealmakers in India amid firmwide job cuts

By Anto Antony

Barclays Plc is hiring a pair of dealmakers in India even as it is trimming headcount by about 300 people across the corporate and investment bank globally, according to people familiar with the matter.
 

The bank has hired Sameer Sood and Srikanth Chakka from Credit Suisse as it seeks to bolster the advisory business in India, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is not public. Sood is set to join as a managing director and Chakka as the lead for industrials in the investment banking division in Mumbai by December, they said.

The UK bank is seeking to replenish its ranks in the market after Ashish Jhaveri, head of mergers and acquisitions for the firm in India, left for Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Barclays is planning to hire more investment bankers in the country, the people said.

While Sood was with the Swiss bank since 2010, Chakka joined the company two years back, information available on their LinkedIn profiles show. Both didn’t immediately respond to LinkedIn requests seeking comment. 

Spokespersons for Barclays and Credit Suisse declined to comment.

Barclays was an adviser on billionaire Gautam Adani’s acquisition of Holcim Ltd.’s India operations and JSW Energy Ltd.’s buyouts of renewable energy businesses among others in the last two years, data compiled by Bloomberg show.