Private Equity Investment Team
The Private Equity team at Kotak is headed by Nitin Deshmukh, who brings with him over 23 years of experience in the Venture Capital/ Private Equity and Corporate space. The nine member team comprises successful professionals with diverse backgrounds bringing complimentary skill sets. The team has rich experience in the Indian Venture Capital/ Private Equity industry and is one of the very few in the country with "full life cycle" experience. The experience of the team spans across private equity advisory, investment banking, corporate finance, infrastructure finance, management consulting besides operating experience in pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and IT services.
The team also brings with it specific investment track record in the fields of Life Sciences (Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology), Retail, Media, Light Engineering, Technology and IT Services among others.
Nitin Deshmukh, CEO
Nitin is the founding member of the structured Private Equity practice at Kotak Group and has played the pivotal role in building this business. With over 24 years of experience in Venture Capital (VC) & Private Equity (PE) investing, Nitin has seen the growth of the VC and PE space from being a mere nomenclature to being one of the most preferred financing vehicles in the country today. Nitin's uncanny ability to identify trends and leaders in their infancy and helping them realize their potential has been the hallmark of his career. He has lead and managed investments in over 60 companies, a significant number of which have grown at a scorching pace attaining leadership position in their respective sectors. Prior to taking up the current assignment at Kotak in June 2004, Nitin was Director with SEAF, a US headquartered Venture Capital fund before it joined hands with Kotak and the founding member of the India Team of Dresdner Kleinwort Capital when it started operations in India in June 2001. Prior to joining Dresdner, Nitin had a long stint of over 12 years with ICICI Venture, the PE and VC arm of the ICICI Group from its inception in 1989 to being its Chief of Private Equity Investments heading its funding and investment management activities of various Funds, till the early part of this decade.
During his association with ICICI Venture he led its investment strategy in Life Sciences (Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology), Media/Entertainment and Retailing Industries achieving high returns for its investors by investing in these sectors much ahead of competition.
Nitin actively served as a member of Investment Committees of various Funds at ICICI Venture and also on the boards of several ICICI Venture investee companies.
Nitin started his career with a 3.5 year stint at CIPLA, India's second largest pharmaceutical company in various technical and management positions.
Nitin also has a strong association with Pharmaceutical and Biotech Industry in the country, having served as The Director General of Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), the leading industry association of biotech companies in India and having worked with CIPLA. He continues to be an active member of the Executive Council of ABLE besides being a member of several Committees set up by the Central /State Governments and other apex industry associations at various points of time in the field of Biotechnology.
Nitin holds an MBA degree from University of Bombay. Earlier he earned his Masters Degree in Pharmaceutical Technology from UDCT, Bombay where his research work led to a patent filing on machine design for manufacture of Novel Drug Delivery Systems. He also completed the Post Graduation Programme in Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Ghent, Belgium.
Nitin can be reached at nitin.deshmukh@kotak.com
Ramakrishna K. V, C.I.O
Ramakrishna joined the Private Equity practice at Kotak, in November 2004 and brings with him over 15 years of experience, with the last 13 years in Private Equity and Venture Capital. Prior to his current assignment, Ramakrishna was with Carlyle Asia Venture Partners (CAVP), a $330 mn technology focused fund, part of the Carlyle Group. Prior to Carlyle, Ramakrishna was with ICICI Ventures, the PE & VC arm of the ICICI Group, where he was a key member of the investment team. His investment experience spans sectors ranging from information technology and retailing to services and light engineering. Prior to his career in the Private Equity advisory field, Ramakrishna worked for two years at the Management Services Division of Tata Motors (formerly, TELCO), the largest automobile company in India.
Ramakrishna adopts a value based investment strategy of controlling risks and aiming for long term growth. He believes strongly in guiding the business and growth strategies of portfolio companies with active board participation.
Ramakrishna is a Computer Science & Engineering graduate from National Institute of Technology, Warangal and holds a post graduate degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Ramakrishna can be reached at ramakrishna.kv@kotak.com
R. Laxman, Director
R. Laxman joined the Private Equity team in 2009 bringing with him more than 17 years of varied experience within the Kotak Group. Prior to his current assignment, Laxman was with Kotak Investment Banking specialising in Mergers and Acquisition and Private Equity. During his 10 year stint at the Investment Bank, Laxman has advised several large business groups in India in the M&A and PE space. He has also successfully led cross border acquisitions for Indian and global clients in geographies including Europe and China. He had a special focus on the automobile and general engineering sectors at the Investment Bank.
Prior to the Investment Banking stint, Laxman spent 2 years in the Car Finance business of Kotak and was the Head of the Western Region. Laxman also spent 5 years in the Corporate Lease and Hire Purchase Business of Kotak.
Laxman is a post graduate from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, University of Bombay with a specialisation in Finance. He is also a Cost and Works Accountant from The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India.Laxman can be reached at r.laxman@kotak.com
Vivek Joshi
Vivek Joshi joined the team in 2007, bringing with him more than 19 years of global multifunctional work experience. Prior to his current assignment, Vivek was with Hindustan Unilever Ltd., a subsidiary of Unilever Plc. During his 11 year stint at HUL, Vivek worked in Business Management, Innovation Management, Supply Chain Management and Projects. He has been a member and leader of international teams, turned around a loss making business, managed international innovation projects and set-up & managed greenfield factories. Vivek has experience in FMCG and specialty chemicals businesses.
Prior to joining HUL, Vivek worked in USA and as part of a technical consulting organization in California, he was responsible for client management, new business development and was an expert in remediation and process technology. He has worked in specialty and large scale manufacturing companies in Florida and California.
Vivek is a Chemical Engineering graduate of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, followed by a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering from USA. He also has a Post-Graduate Degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, with focus on Strategic Management.
Vivek can be reached at vivekn.joshi@kotak.com
Amit Raje
Amit Raje joined Kotak Private Equity Group in November 2007. He currently serves as Vice President - Investments. Amit brings with him diverse work experience of 9 years working as Executive Assistant to Member of Parliament, working in a technology start-up and a consulting firm. While working in the office of Member of Parliament for 4.5 years, Amit worked on a number of legislative issues and bills discussed in the Indian Parliament and in the various Standing Committees of the Parliament such as the Finance Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Defence Committee etc. While working with the technology start-up IRIS Technologies briefly for a year, Amit was responsible for expanding the firms’ practice in E-Governance. Amit worked with Deloitte for 4 year in their Financial Advisory Services where he worked on a number of M&A transaction across sectors such as Oil & Gas, Pharmaceuticals and Auto Ancilliary.
Bhavin Shah, Associate Director
Bhavin Shah joined Kotak Private Equity Group in November 2008. He currently serves as Vice President - Investments. Bhavin brings with him diverse work experience of 10 years working in investment banking and Private Equity. He joined us from Kotak Investment Banking –Financial Sponsors Group, where he focused on Private Equity transactions across industries. He has worked with corporates including M&M, Apollo Hospitals and others to help raise Private Equity funds. Prior to Kotak Investment bank, he led corporate development and M&A efforts for SPI Technologies in India and has been responsible for executing SPI’s entry strategy into India. During his tenure, SPI grew to close to 1,000 people in India. Earlier, he was part of Crimson Ventures, a private equity fund with a focus on outsourced services in Asia. At Crimson, he gained hands on experience with early to mid stage companies.
Bhavin holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management- Ahmedabad and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Bhavin can be reached at shah.bhavin@kotak.com
Hemal Mehta - Vice President- Operations, Risk and Compliance
Hemal Mehta joined the organization in December 2009. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ACA, 1998) from India and is also a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA, 2004) from London, UK. He started his career with Hiranandani Developers Private Limited in Mumbai where he handled audit and tax for four years in senior capacity. He then moved to London and worked with Pauls Frieght Services (PFS) Limited as Assistant Manager- Finance for two years. Within the group he was promoted and moved to Mauritius in January 2006 where he headed the logistics business as General Manger of PFS Mauritius Limited. In March 2007 he moved to Dubai and worked as General Manager for PLUS971 FZE a company based out of Dubai Airport Freezone being an official distributor of Nokia mobile phones spread in various countries. He headed the business for branches based out of Italy and Hong Kong.
In 2009 he moved back to India and joined as Vice President Finance with Saffron Asset Advisors a Private Equity fund advisor managing two real estate funds, one fund listed on Euronext exchange in Amsterdam and other one being a private fund based out of Mauritius.
Naozad Sirwalla, Chief Operating Officer
Naozad joined Kotak Mahindra Group in April 2000. He was part of the team that set up Kotak's first VC fund, which closed in 2007 with a 2.5x multiple return on capital. Investments of the fund included companies like Divi's Laboratories, All sec Technologies and Sasken Communication. Prior to moving to his current role, he was Senior Vice President - Group Finance & Strategy at Kotak Mahindra Bank. He was responsible for investor relations (institutions), strategic initiatives, proprietary investments, group budgets and MIS. He has been closely involved with the setting up and structuring of all the private equity and real estate funds of the Kotak Mahindra Group from inception. Prior to joining Kotak, Naozad has worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers for five years in the corporate finance practice. He is a chartered accountant and a company secretary.
Shagoofa R. Khan, Head, Legal & Compliance
Ms. Khan joined the Advisor in June 2006 with seven years of experience in the fields of international taxation, legal advisory services, corporate and commercial law, business advisory services, audit and finance. Prior to joining the Advisor, Ms. Khan worked with Nishith Desai Associates, a leading Indian law firm specializing in legal and tax counseling worldwide, where she was the Head of the Real Estate Fund practice team and Head of the Inter-national Tax Policy practice team.
During her term with Nishith Desai, Ms. Khan represented several leading national and international funds in structuring and setting up of their India-focused investment funds. Ms. Khan's expertise lies in structuring of inbound and outbound investments, with special focus on international taxation and planning. Her passion for tax policy issues led her to working with the Chinese Taxation Ministry on a World Bank sponsored study on post-World Trade Organization tax reforms in China.
Ms. Khan is a law graduate from Mumbai University and is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. She has also completed the company secretary program from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India
Prakash Dalal, Head Investor Relations
Prakash joined the team in May 2007 and heads Investor Relations. Prakash is also part of Kotak Mahindra Group's Alternative Asset Management business. He has been with Kotak since 1993 and worked in a multitude of divisions including Investment Banking where he was a Relationship Manager, Private Banking where he headed the Product Development and Marketing Function and Mutual Funds where he was head of Retail Sales, Marketing and Product Development.
Prakash holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the Indian School of Business.