Steven Gruber appointed as new chairman of EXL board

Our Convergence Bureau
06 March 2003

New Delhi: As part of its restructuring effort initiated in November 2002, EXL Service, the Nasscom-certified No 1 business process outsourcing (BPO) services provider in India, has announced the appointment of Steven Gruber, a managing partner of Oak Hill Capital Management Inc, as the non-executive chairman of EXL Service.

Vikram Talwar will continue to serve as the vice-chairman and CEO along with Rohit Kapoor who will continue as the president and chief financial officer at EXL. Oak Hill Capital Partners has significant business interests in EXL, subsequent to its recent equity investment to acquire stakes from Conseco Inc along with FTVentures and the EXL management.

The other board members include James Hale (senior managing member, FTVentures), Ben Cukier (principal, FTVentures) and Brad Bernstein (partner, Oak Hill Capital Partners), along with Talwar and Kapoor.

Gruber is a managing partner of Oak Hill Capital Management, the investment advisor to Oak Hill Capital Partners LP, a $1.6-billion private equity fund formed in 1999. He was a co-founder and managing partner of Insurance Partners LP, a $540-million private equity fund dedicated to investments in the insurance industry, and a managing partner of the management company of Acadia Partners LP, which has a $1.6-billion leveraged high yield and private equity fund.

Gruber has led the Oak Hill and Keystone investments in Align Technologies Inc, American Skiing Company, Blackboard Inc, Caliber Collision Centers Inc, Exlservice Inc, Travel Centers of America Inc and Unionamerica Holdings plc, and played integral roles in numerous other investments.

Prior to joining Bass, Gruber was a managing director and co-head of High Yield Securities at Lehman Brothers and a managing director of its merchant banking group. He was also a member of Lehman Brothers' Investment Committee and Investment Banking Division Operating Committee.