Vinod Joseph, former legal head of Brand Capital, the ad-for-equity investment arm of Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL), is joining IDFC Alternatives, the private equity (PE) arm of IDFC Bank as general counsel. He will look after the fund’s legal and compliance operations.
An alumnus of National Law School of India University, Joseph did his Master’s from London School of Economics and Political Science in 2003.
“Vinod Joseph has joined as general counsel for IDFC Alternatives and he will handle all legal work around fundraising, investments and exits,†said an IDFC spokesperson in an email response to VCCircle. “There are three lawyers working with him,†the spokesperson added. Repeated phone calls made to Joseph did not elicit any response.
Joseph started his career at AZB & Partners in 1998 as an associate and later joined BNP Paribas as assistant legal manager before moving to DSP Merrill Lynch as manager compliance and law. He also worked with law firms including two stints at Dua & Associates, UK-headquartered Lawrence Graham LLP and US-based Reed Smith Richards Butler LLP.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Joseph worked with Kotak Mahindra as vice president legal in the UK from October 2007 to November 2010 before moving back to India. In May last year, he was appointed the legal head at Brand Capital.
He has also authored a novel titled Hitchhiker.
“Vinod is an expert in the area of contract and employment law and he has an eye for detail and is good at analysing situations and coming up with innovative, yet practical, solutions,†said a managing partner at a Mumbai-based law firm who didn’t wish to be named.
IDFC Alternatives is IDFC Bank's alternative asset management vertical and manages over $3.4 billion on behalf of leading institutional investors from across the world. IDFC Alternatives' first private equity fund was launched in 2002. Since then it has expanded its alternative asset portfolio to include a total of three private equity funds, two infrastructure equity funds and three real estate funds.
Joseph is joining the investment firm at the time when it is in the middle of multiple activities including raising funds as well as investing in various assets. Recently, the company raised Rs 760 crore ($114 million) under its third real estate focused fund—IDFC SCORE Fund.
Earlier, in June 2016, Shagoofa Rashid Khan, who was heading the legal function at IDFC Alternatives, joined Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as partner.
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