Jefferies hires Mizuho banker to lead private debt in India

Global investment funds are driving the boom in India’s private credit market, taking a 68% share of the $9 billion in such deals struck in the six months through June

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. hired a banker from Mizuho Financial Group Inc. to lead its private credit advisory business in India, the latest firm to wade into the nation’s booming alternative funding market.

Sanjeev Aggarwal, who headed leveraged and structured finance at the Japanese bank in India, has quit and is currently on gardening leave, said the people who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

A spokesperson for Jefferies declined to comment, while a Mizuho representative didn’t respond to a request seeking comment.

Emerging market deals from private lenders are on course for the biggest year on record, with India contributing to many large transactions as an infrastructure push by Prime Minister Narendra Modi fuels financing demand for everything from solar power to roads. Still, a growing chorus of skeptical investors are raising concerns about global underwriting standards in the sector where private entities have rapidly expanded lending since the global financial crisis.

Global investment funds are driving the boom in India’s private credit market, taking a 68% share of the $9 billion in such deals struck in the six months through June, according to a report by consulting firm EY.

Jefferies is making the private credit hire in India as the firm’s local investment banking business rides a wave of fundraising by companies and a pick up in mergers and acquisitions.