MUMBAI Reuters Holdings has appointed Mahesh Natarajan to head its equity capital markets business in India, two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters on Tuesday that he is a top-level investment banking hire that comes when dealmaking is going through a turbulent phase.
The sources said that Natarajan is due to join the Japanese firm's Indian unit in the coming months, but they declined to be named as the hiring decision is not public.
Natarajan currently heads equity capital markets - including initial public offerings and block deals - for Nomura's domestic rival ICICI Securities and has spent nearly 17 years with the firm, according to his LinkedIn profile. He worked with Morgan Stanley earlier in the day.
He replaces Mangesh Ghogre, who was the head of Nomura's equity capital market business in India until last month.
Both Natarajan and Natarajan didn't respond immediately to a request for comment. A spokesman for ICICI wouldn't say anything.
In 2022, Indian companies raised more than 9.4 billion from equity capital markets, down 45% from the previous year, due to rising interest rate environment and growing concerns over valuations.
In India, equity deals worth nearly $830 million were part of the deal and were ranked 10th in 2022, according to Refinitiv data, 42% higher than the previous year.
Natarajan has been part of more than 100 deals over the years, including initial public offerings of Adani Wilmar, KKR-backed lender Five Star Business and state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India, which was India's biggest ever last year.