KPMG’s Sanjay Singh to spearhead India team of investment bank BDA Partners

In a key exit from the world of Big 4 firms, KPMG India partner and head of life sciences vertical Sanjay Singh is all set to join Asia focused investment bank BDA Partners as MD & Head of India, sources with knowledge of the matter told Moneycontrol.

“ Sanjay Singh has put in his papers and is expected to join BDA Partners later this month,” according to one of the individuals cited above.
“ Other than leading the India team, Singh will also be the co-head of healthcare for Asia,” added a second individual.

BDA Partners specializes in cross-border m&a and is keen to beef up its footprint in India which has seen a flurry of buyout deals by domestic & international private equity investors.

Singh, an IIM Bangalore alumnus, has spent over 13 years at KPMG India and has lead transactions in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. Prior to KPMG India, he has worked at domestic pharma majors Glenmark Pharma & Dr Reddy’s.
“ Considering Singh’s background, the move should generate strong synergies, as healthcare is a strong sector globally for BDA Partners which has a strategic partner and shareholder in William Blair, a top player in healthcare investment banking in the US & Europe,” added a third individual.

All the three individuals spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.

Moneycontrol is awaiting the response to an email query from BDA Partners. KPMG India declined to comment. Moneycontrol could not connect with Sanjay Singh for an immediate comment.

A CLOSER LOOK AT BDA PARTNERS

According to it’s website, BDA Partners was founded in 1996. The firm works chiefly on sell side mandates and has offices in London and New York with presence in 7 Asian countries, with teams in Mumbai, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul & Tokyo. Globally, it competes with the likes of investment banks Rothschild, Jefferies, Moelis & Lazard and boasts of arguably the largest pan-Asia team of bankers focusing on m&a and fund raising.

Japanese government owned bank DBJ which has total assets of $150 bn is also one of its shareholders. BDA Partners focuses on six sectors , namely, consumer, health, industrials, chemicals, services and technology and has worked on deals involving Bristol Myers Squibb, Temasek, Cognizant, Partners Group, PAG, Henkel & others.

OTHER EXITS FROM THE BIG 4 FIRMS

In the last year, there have been at least 3 instances of partners from Big 4 firms moving on to take up positions in India Inc, two of which were reported first by Moneycontrol.

On August 31st, 2020, Moneycontrol had reported that Charanjit Attra, a partner in Financial Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS) at EY India and a former ICICI Securities senior executive, was headed to State Bank of India (SBI) as its new chief financial officer (CFO). This was a rare instance of the PSU behemoth tapping a candidate from outside its inner pool.

Also read: EY partner and former ICICI Securities senior executive Charanjit Attra likely to join SBI as new CFO

Later, on September 29, 2020, Moneycontrol reported that ChrysCapital backed mid-cap firm Eris Lifesciences had signed up EY’s pharma investment banking partner V Krishnakumar.

Former PwC India advisory leader Deepankar Sanwalka has recently joined India’s most valuable startup Paytm’s core leadership team as President (Enterprise Functions).

In the past few years, senior Big 4 executives like KPMG’s Dinesh Kanabar and Girish Vanvari and PwC’s Ketan Dalal have moved on to set up firms which specialise in tax, regulatory, m&a advisory & structuring functions like Dhruva Advisors, Transaction Square and Katalyst Advisors respectively.

WAR FOR TOP TALENT: TRENDS IN I-BANKS , LAW FIRMS & CORPORATES

Incidentally, the last few months have also seen key executive movements at top tier investment banks. Morgan Stanley’s head of m&a in India S Sundareswaran has quit and will join real estate advisory firm Alta Capital and partner with ex-Blackstone executive Siddhartha Gupta.

Moneycontrol has reported that Sunil Khaitan, Head (Global Capital Markets) at BofA Securities

India will move to a new role in south-east Asia and is likely to be replaced by Subhrajit Roy, an ED at Kotak Investment Banking. Industry buzz suggests more such moves are in the works at both global and domestic investment banks.

Also Read: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/bofa-india-dealmaker-sunil-khaitan-to-take-up-se-asia-role-kotaks-subhrajit-roy-likely-frontrunner-to-replace-khaitan-6852021.html

Corporate law firms, conglomerates and consumer internet startups have also seen a lot of churn in legal talent.

On 16th April, 2021, Moneycontrol reported that Roshan Thomas, a partner at law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas was headed to Byju’s as group general counsel.

His move to the ed-tech major added to the string of similar departures recently.

On March 29, 2021, Moneycontrol was the first to write about Sapan Gupta’s elevation as global general counsel at steel giant ArcelorMittal.

On April 5, Moneycontrol broke the story that Pratibha Jain of law firm Nishith Desai Associates was headed to Everstone Group as the group general counsel and Everstone’s Devaiah PM would join diversified conglomerate Adani Group as their legal head.

L&L Partner Damini Bhalla is headed to IPO-bound food delivery unicorn Zomato as the general counsel.