Dalip Pathak, who started Warburg Pincus’ private equity business in India in 1994, will again run the firm’s operations in the country, Warburg Pincus said in a statement as reported by Bloomberg. Pathak currently runs the firm’s European business. Warburg’s India Managing Director Rajesh Khanna is leaving to start an India investment business.
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Private equity firm Olympus Capital Holdings Asia recently said it has named David Shen, now in charge of its Japan business, to a newly created position as head of its Asian operations reported Reuters. Shen, who will move to Hong Kong around July, will continue to lead the firm’s business in Japan, where it is planning to expand. “This decision is designed to allow us to take a more focused approach to leverage our regional platform,” Shen said. Hong Kong-based Olympus Capital will focus on the environment, food, agriculture and natural resource sectors in greater Asia, while the firm has country-specific strategies that fit each market, he said. In Japan, Olympus is pursuing transactions involving medium-sized companies looking to expand abroad as well as business owners having trouble finding successors once they retire, he said. Since 1997, Olympus Capital has invested about $1.3 billion in about 30 portfolio companies across Asia, with a focus on China, India, Japan and South Korea. At premiere institutions such as the University of Chicago’s Booth School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and Northwestern’s Kellogg, the percentage of MBAs taking jobs in Asia—including U.S. students like Tsai as well as international students—has more than doubled in the past five years, from roughly 5% of the graduating class to more than 10% reports BusinessWeek. “There is a sense that the center of gravity is shifting,” says Julie Morton, Booth’s associate dean for career services. Adds Richard Florida, professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management: “I don’t think many of us thought Asia would become the destination for top Western talent—but it is.” So do many Chinese who emigrated to the U.S. when they were young. They find themselves breaking the news to their families that they’re chasing the same dream that lured their parents to the U.S., only in reverse. (What better time to leverage the family capital back in the old country?) The Chinese call these returnees hai gui, or sea turtles, referring to how these animals always return to their birthplace to lay their own eggs. Then there are the international students, who until recently would likely have stayed in the U.S. to learn the soft skills of Western management, and now are heading straight back home. Piyush Singhvi, 27, was born in India, grew up in the Middle East, and, before Wharton, worked at the Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital, the largest non-state-owned firm in the region. When Singhvi enrolled in Wharton in 2008 he was certain, he says, that he would stay in the U.S. after graduation like most of his peers. But then came the financial crisis. “It was amazing to see how many people came in with the idea that they would stay in the West, and how that’s drastically changed to just the opposite,” he says. “There are a lot more opportunities in the East.” Private equity CVC Capital Partner’s Zhu Wei resigns to lead Standard Chartered China Private EquityZhu Wei, a senior managing director of CVC Capital Partners, recently resigned from the private equity firm to join Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered, sources said reported Reuters. Zhu, who joined CVC’s Beijing office in July 2008 from Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities, a China investment banking joint venture of the Wall Street bank, would become the China head of Standard Chartered Private Equity and likely based in Beijing. Before moving into the investment banking, Zhu, an MBA graduate of the University of Chicago, was the long-time top boss for consultancy firm AT Kearney in the Greater China region. Standard Chartered Private Equity manages $1.5 billion in assets in Asia. Standard Chartered Private Equity typically invests between $10 million and $50 million in mid- to late-stage companies whose main operations are located in the Greater China region, South Korea, Southeast Asia and India. In China, investments include copper tube maker Golden Dragon Group and property developers Shimao Property Holdings Ltd and Greentown China Holdings Ltd. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) recently said its long-time China partner Xie Tao had resigned reported Reuters. The resignation of Xie, based in Beijing for PwC as its corporate finance leader for the China market, was a surprise to many dealmakers in China as he has handled more than 100 mergers and acquisitions over the past decade there. Xie focused on acquisition support, system review and implementation, tax planning and negotiation, project facilitation and the financial review of deal targets for both global and domestic clients, according to PwC’s China Website. A government official-turned chartered accountant, Xie was one of the most senior PwC partners in China, and he often worked closely with the firm’s major private equity clients in China to help them negotiate and implement transactions. Private equity firm Actis recently said it has hired Jiansheng Wang from rival Cerberus Capital Management as a partner based in its Beijing office. Wang, previously managing director of Cerberus’ China operations, will help Actis, which is best known for its deals in Africa and India, source for investments in China as well as work with the firm’s financial services team. “Jiansheng will deepen our understanding of the financial services sector in China domestically and regionally,” Actis senior partner Paul Fletcher said in a statement. Actis, which has $4.8 billion in funds under management, will benefit from Wang’s network of relationships in the Chinese government forged during his time with the World Bank’s International Finance Corp and Cerberus, the firm added. Leading Wall Street strategist Byron Wien, 76, has just taken a new job at Blackstone Advisory Services and will will become a Vice Chairman at the private equity and hedge fund firm, Blackstone Group LP chairman and chief executive Steven Schwarzman recently said as reported by Reuters. “Byron will play a central and invaluable role in providing direction and guidance,” Schwarzman said in a statement. He established his reputation during two decades at Morgan Stanley where he rose to become the company’s chief investment strategist for the United States. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch has hired Wang Bing to head its corporate finance business in China reported Reuters. Wang Bing, who worked for Merrill Lynch between 2004 and 2008 in various management roles including dealmaking in China, agreed to rejoin Bank of America-Merrill Lynch as a managing director. Wang will be based in Hong Kong and will report directly to Erh Fei Liu, BofA-Merrill’s China country executive and head of China global corporate and investment banking. During Wang’s almost five years with Merrill Lynch, he covered corporate finance, general industries and most recently as a dealmaker for Merrill Lynch’s private equity division. Wang, an MBA graduate of top European business school INSEAD, left Merrill Lynch before the acquisition by Bank of America for a long holiday before he agreed to rejoin the combined bank earlier this year, according to a source close to Wang. Che-Ning Liu, head of Hong Kong investment banking for Morgan Stanley, is leaving to head the Greater China corporate banking group for HSBC, sources said recently as reported by Reuters. Liu became a managing director at Morgan Stanley in 2001. Blackstone Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, has recently hired Philip Levinson, a Deutsche Asset Management executive, to a new position running its capital raising and other operations across Asia Pacific reported Reuters. Philip Levinson will be responsible for raising capital for Blackstone’s funds, maintaining client relationships and helping develop new products across Asia Pacific. Blackstone is increasing its presence in Asia and in in talks with the Shanghai city government to set up a wholly owned China subsidiary as it prepares to launch a local currency private equity fund. Zhang Yi, former co-head of Goldman Sachs’ Asia Special Situations Group (ASSG), has joined China private equity firm Trust Bridge Partners to run a recently established $400 million fund, sources said as reported by Reuters. The fund was launched in late 2008 with a focus on high-growth Chinese private companies. Zhang Yi, who joined Goldman in 1994 and left in February 2009, is a top China dealmaker working on high-profile investments in China, including meat processor Shuanghui and Western Mining. About Trust Bridge Partners Based in Shanghai, Trust Bridge Partners was founded by several industry veterans, including Zhou Donglei, a former senior executive for a leading Chinese internet firm, Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. One of Trust Bridge’s investment focuses will be telecoms, media and technology, including related areas such as consumer-driven internet business or the new media sector. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings, has been reported to be one of Trust Bridge’s investors. Deutsche Bank appointed Robert Rankin as its Asia Pacific CEO, putting a UBS veteran in position to build the franchise across the region as he did at his former bank reported Reuters. Rankin’s responsibilities will exclude Japan, and his new role will be effective June 10. He replaces Colin Grassie, who is returning to Europe. Rankin will be based in Hong Kong and report to the global head of regional management, Juergen Fitschen. Rankin moved to Hong Kong in 2000 as head of the tech, media and telecom banking team at UBS, and became co-head of Asia investment banking with Peter Burnett in 2003. Rankin became sole head of the group the following year. Rankin is credited, both inside and outside the bank, with helping to build the success of UBS in Asia, as the bank remains at the top of several league table categories. It’s considered a dominant equity franchise across Asia Pacific. Natasha Tsukanova, a 12-year veteran JP Morgan Russia investment banker, has been hired by the Russian government to informally consult state-run companies over acquisitions abroad, sources said as reported by Reuters. She resigned from JP Morgan’s Russia unit after Igor Sechin, Russia’s top energy official, asked her to advise the government on foreign mergers and acquisitions in the energy sector. Tsukanova has worked on several major deals involving Russia’s top companies, including the IPOs of state-controlled oil major Rosneft and the country’s biggest lender, Sberbank. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch has named Michael Cho, a South Korea-focused investment banker, as Head of Asia M&A and David Petrie was named head of Australia M&A reported Reuters. These appointments were due to the recent resignation of Kalpana Desai, a 11-year veteran at Merrill Lynch and now former Head of Asia-Pacific M&A. Kalpana Desai, Head of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch‘s Asia-Pacific Mergers & Acquisitions, is leaving the bank to “pursue other business opportunities,” reported various media reports citing sources. Desai, 42, joined Merrill’s investment banking division in Hong Kong in 1998 and was made Head of Asia M&A four years later. She was promoted to Head of Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) M&A in 2008, with responsibility for the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia and India. Kalpana Desai’s Notable Deals
Charles Li, JPMorgan China Chairman, is leaving the bank to pursue other interests. Li joined JPMorgan in 2003 and previously worked at Merrill Lynch joining the firm in 1994 and becoming Merrill’s China President in 1999. Prior to Merrill Lynch, Li worked at law firms Davis Pok & Wardwell and Brown & Wood. Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported that Li was expected to replace Paul Chow as the new chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, which operates the Hong Kong stock market. Margaret Ren, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch China Investment Banking Chairman, has recently left the bank for undisclosed reasons said sources as reported by Reuters. Ren, daughter-in-law of former Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang, was hired by Merrill in February 2007, at a time when Chinese investment banking revenues were soaring past the $1 billion mark for the industry. Prior to Merrill, Ren was a star banker at Citigroup, although she was suspended by the bank in June 2004 over an inquiry into the December 2003 $3.5 billion IPO of China Life Insurance Co, in which she played a key role. Ren left Citigroup soon after the suspension and was cleared of any wrongdoing in issue by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2006. Ren holds a master’s degree from Princeton University in the United States, and is the daughter of former Guangdong Party Secretary Ren Zhongyi. In Asia, some finance professionals and lawyers are reinventing themselves as restructuring specialists given the slowed pipeline of deals, public offerings, layoffs, etc. reports the Wall Street Journal. In the U.S. and Europe, bankruptcy and restructuring specialists usually focus on those situations for entire careers. However, in Asia and some other emerging markets, it is not unusual for bankers and lawyers to work on deals they put together, or restructure debt they previously helped arrange. “Whenever there’s a downturn, transaction lawyers become restructuring lawyers,” says Brett King, a lawyer at U.S. firm Paul Hastings‘ Hong Kong office.
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