Sondhi to join Kotak Mahindra as president
By Our Corporate Bureau | 27 Jun 2002
Mumbai: Ajay Sondhi is joining the Kotak Mahindra group as group president (institutions) and vice chairman and managing director, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd, a joint venture with Goldman Sachs.
Sondhi will have functional responsibility for all investment banking and institutional broking activities of the group.
In his role as group president (institutions), Sondhi will be responsible for managing the corporate and institutional relationships across businesses of the group, including the commercial banking business, and focus in particular on deriving synergies across the various businesses.
Sondhi will also be a director on the board of the parent company, Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd (KMFL), which is converting into a bank. He will work closely with Uday Kotak on group strategy and management, including building the commercial banking business.
Says KMFL vice chairman Uday Kotak: "Ajay brings with him a wealth of expertise, experience and goodwill of relationships, which will add value to the group. His joining strengthens the process of institutionalisation of Kotak Mahindra."
Says Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC president Richard Gnodde: "I am delighted that a banker of Ajays proven capabilities has joined our joint venture. Our partner, Kotak Mahindra, already has the premier banking and securities franchise in India, and Ajays appointment will only strengthen it further to take advantage of growing opportunities with Indias world-class technology companies and the government as it privatises state-owned industries."
Sondhi has 20 years of experience in the banking industry and joins the Kotak Mahindra group from UBS Warburg, where he has been the managing director and country head for India since March 1998. Sondhi has previously worked with Barclays Bank/BZW as group CEO for India, Salomon Brothers, Hong Kong and Citibank NA India.
Kotak Mahindra is one of Indias leading financial services groups. The parent, KMFL, is a leader in retail and commercial financing and has received an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to convert itself into a commercial bank.
Kotak Mahindra Primus Ltd, a joint venture with Ford Credit, is Indias leading car finance company. Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd and Kotak Securities Ltd are both joint ventures with Goldman Sachs, the leading global investment bank, and are leaders in their respective fields of investment banking and broking.
Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Ltd, with assets under management of over Rs 1,900 crore and Om Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company Ltd, a joint venture with Old Mutual, are large and growing players in their businesses.
The group, operating in over 50 cities in India and the US, the UK and the UAE, employs over 1,000 dedicated professionals and services a client-base of over half-a-million customers.
