Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd or Arcil, backed by US investor Avenue Capital, has appointed a former public sector bank head as chief executive officer and managing director (CEO and MD).
Recently retired as MD and CEO of Central Bank of India, Pallav Mohapatra took charge of Arcil on Monday.
The veteran public sector banker has received the central government and the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to take Arcil’s helm for two years.
In October last year, Arcil – the quasi-government entity – had mandated US-based headhunting firm Egon Zehnder to find a replacement for former chief Vinayak Bahuguna, who had recently completed his five-year tenure.
Its peer Assets Care & Reconstruction Enterprise Ltd (ACRE), backed by Asia-focused Ares SSG (previously known as SSG Capital), also recently roped in a new chief from RBL Bank.
Mohapatra
Mohapatra started his career with the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) as a probationary officer in 1983.
In over three and a half decades at SBI, he acted in roles including deputy managing director handling the Stressed Assets Resolution Group and CEO of SBI Cards.
In other roles, Mohapatra acted as chief general manager in Delhi circle; deputy general manager, project management, new business corporate centre; managing director of SBI Custodial Services; and vice-president (credit and forex), SBI, Los Angeles.
In 2018, the government’s autonomous body, Banks Board Bureau (BBB), recommended Mohapatra’s name for the CEO and MD post at the Central Bank of India. He retired from the government-owned bank on February 28.
Mohapatra was instrumental in turning around the bank which had made losses for 12 consecutive quarters when he joined in September 2018.
Arcil
Set up in 2002, Arcil is sponsored by large Indian banks such as State Bank of India (19.95%), IDBI Bank (19.18%) and Punjab National Bank (10.01%). ICICI Bank and its subsidiary ICICI Home Finance together own 15.52% of Arcil.
In November 2018, Avenue Capital Group decided to acquire around 27% stake in Arcil from six investors: Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, IDFC, Barclays, Karur Vysya Bank, FirstRand Bank and Ashmore Capital.
Arcil has assets under management (AUM) of around Rs 12,000 crore.
By assets under management, it trails Edelweiss ARC and is neck and neck with JM Financial ARC.
Recently, Arcil and other creditors approved the sale of an Aditya Birla Group entity-backed stressed IT and business solutions provider.
In a recent interview, Arcil’s chief investment officer said the ARC hopes to complete recoveries worth over Rs 1,000 crore and bad-loan purchases of around Rs 1,500-2,000 crore by the end of March.