Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI)’s investment banking and project advisory arm, SBI Capital Markets (SBI Caps), is in the midst of a restructuring exercise, leading to exits of at least three senior executives, said three people aware of the development.
They said that the changes are due to a lower-than-anticipated level of performance by the company, especially in the project advisory business. Among those exiting are Rajan Gupta, executive vice-president and group head of project advisory and structured finance group; Vedavyasa Rao K.R., senior vice-president and head (South); and Arun Kumar Jain, senior vice-president and head (East).
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The project advisory and structured finance group comprises a team of over 220 professionals spread across offices in Abu Dhabi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, as per SBI Caps’ FY24 annual report.
“There are fewer deals in project advisory and the company has struggled to get new assignments in this space. That has led to the changes in the organisation,” said one of the three persons cited earlier, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.
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That apart, SBI Caps has also decided to scale down its nascent operations in the Middle East. As part of that exercise, SBI Caps has asked Vishal Gupta, senior executive officer in its Abu Dhabi office, to return to India and take charge of its operations for the Southern states.
Emails to spokespersons for SBI Caps and its parent SBI remained unanswered. Rajan Gupta, Rao, Jain and Vishal Gupta declined to comment.
In July 2023, senior SBI and SBI Caps executives inaugurated the branch in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Mint reported in June 2023 that the move to set up an office in the region reflects the growing importance of funds from the Middle East willing to invest in Indian businesses. SBI Caps wanted to capitalize on this opportunity, and planned to gradually expand its team to have a significant presence in the region.
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The plan to tap the markets in the Middle East did not yield the desired results and, therefore, the company has decided to scale down, said the second person.
SBI Caps, that leads the league tables in debt advisory, has been losing ground to newer players in the past few years. The firm has also not been able to scale up its advisory business when it comes to dealmaking. This, coupled with intensifying competition in the advisory space, has likely led to the restructuring.
“To give it a new-age edge, heads had to roll,” said a senior executive of a head-hunting firm privy to the move.
The changes at SBI Caps comes within a year of a change of guard at State Bank of India. C.S. Setty took over as chairman of India’s largest bank in August, after Dinesh Khara retired. Having started operations in 1986, SBI Caps is a wholly-owned subsidiary and investment banking arm of SBI. In 2023-24, SBI Caps posted a standalone net profit of ₹1,336.31 crore, as against a profit of ₹333.98 crore in the year prior.
State Bank of India,SBI,SBI Caps,SBI Capital Markets,restructuring
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