Investment Bankers Conclave

Finance is all about evolution and exchange not just of money but more importantly of ideas and strategies. To facilitate higher learning regarding the dynamic financial services industry which is currently in a transition phase and is witnessing increasing M&A activity, Finance Society, FMS successfully organized ‘Citi Investment Bankers’ Conclave’ in association with Motilal Oswal investment Advisors on 22nd September ’07 at Hotel Radisson.

The day long conclave witnessed tremendous participation both from the corporates and the students. The conclave was divided in to 3 sessions and concluded with an Inter B- school Paper presentation competition sponsored by Religare held on 23rd September. The eminent speakers on the panel were:

Dr Subir Gokarn : Executive Director and Chief economist : CRISIL
Mr Kanwaljit Singh : MD : Helion Venture Partners
Mr Satish Mandhana : Executive vice president : IDFC Private Equity
Mr Akhil Awasthi : Partner : Baring private Equity Partner
Mr. Tashwinder Singh : Head- assets, Commercial Banking, Citibank
Dr. Omkar Goswami : Founder & Chairman : CERG Advisory
Mr Ajay Arora : Partner : Lead Advisory : Ernst & Young
Mr. Frank Hancock : Managing Director : Corporate Finance, ABN Amro
Mr. T. Sivashankar ‐ Director, Special Situations Group (GCIB), Citigroup
Mr Raj Chatterjea : Director, Mergers & Acquisition, Motilal Oswal
The conclave was divided into 3 sessions and got media coverage from Business World, Mint and MBAUniverse.

Session 1: The first session of the day comprised of a workshop by Mr Sumit Bagri and Mr Manoj Fulfagar, Assistant Vice President, ICICI Securities, Investment Banking on ‘Private Equity and Mergers & Acqusitions.’ It covered the entire gamut of activities involved into Equity funding and M&A transactions. The speakers discussed the forms and stages of private equity, approaches the funds follow during the structuring of the deal, reasons to acquire or dispose, Valuation models and finally the post merger integration. The workshop familiarized the students with the intricacies of the Investment Banking domain and was a great learning experience.

Session 2: The 2nd Session of the Conclave witnessed a stimulating panel discussion on ‘Capital Raising in the 21st Century’. The panel comprised of eminent speakers like Mr. Subir Gokarn, Executive Director and Chief Economist, CRISIL; Mr. Kanwaljit Singh – MD, Helion Ventures; Mr. Akhil Awasthi – Senior Partner, Baring Private Equity Partners; Mr Satish Mandhana, Managing Director, Investments IDFC Private Equity and Mr Tashwinder Singh Head Assets, Commercial Banking CitiBank.
The discussion started with the panelists giving their views on diverse topics including the debt market regulatory issues, evolving capital needs for businesses and the need for reengineering. Setting the ground for the discussion, Mr Subir Gokarn highlighted the fact that, "There is a complete change in the economy which is seeing more service oriented businesses booming. These businesses don't have the traditional collaterals like plant or factory but thrive on intellectual capital. This is the new challenge." Drawing focus of the panel to India’s vast fund requirements, Mr Tashwinder Singh, Head Assets, Commercial Banking CitiBank, said, “To meet its growth-plans as per 11th Five Year plan, India needs $875 billion. About $550 billion is required in the area of infrastructure, and $220 billion is required by corporates for their expansion.” Outlining the recent rise of venture funding in India, Mr Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Director, Helion Ventures, said, “Today’s investors look for founders of the companies who have knowledge, technical skills, execution skills and passion to build the business.”
This was followed by a Q&A session with students asking questions relating to the infrastructural finance solutions, the need for change in the regulatory issues, the problem of bond issue in domestic markets and so on. The panel put forward all issues relating to Capital raising for organizations and encouraged students to think for newer and more creative solutions to the long persisting problems.

Session 3: The final Session of the Conclave emphasized on the much debated issue of ‘Cross border M&A’s.’ In this changing arena, highlighted by Indian outbound Investments exceeding the Inbound Investments for the first time in Indian history, every subsequent deal presents a new challenge to the Investment bankers. The panelists, presented their views on issues related to the elements that need to be mapped before an M&A, the creation of shareholder value or the lack of it, managerial due diligence, cultural and Human resource aspects associated with an M&A and related issues.
Speaking on the issue of Cross Border M&As Mr. Omkar Goswami, Founder & Chairman, CERG Advisory said, "There is a massive surge in number of cross-border M&A deals. But research conclusively shows that only 20 per cent of M&A deals add long-term value to the companies. Making M&A work is a big corporate challenge." Mr Frank Hancock, Managing Director, Corporate Finance ABN Amro Bank highlighted the objective behind M&A. According to Frank, “The real objective behind these mergers and acquisitions should be capturing new market, new technology or acquiring intellectual property as in brands or patents.” During his tenure in ABN AMRO, Frank has advised on and/or financed many of India's largest, most complex transactions including advising/financing Tatas on their USD 13 bn acquisition of Corus PLC through Tata Steel, advising GOI on its USD 2.4 bn privatization of New Delhi and Mumbai airports etc.

Frank Hancock, MD, Corporate Finance, ABN AMRO

The conclave witnessed large scale participation from the corporates, faculty, participants from various B schools and the students. The conclave provided the perfect platform for the students to interact with the corporate stalwarts to discuss, debate and argue the various issues related to the Investment banking Industry and was an enriching and an educational experience on the whole. The conclave was a huge success both in terms of the scale of the event and the final value addition for all the participants