Advent International, the Boston-headquartered private equity major, has added another high profile operating partner by roping in former Wipro co-CEO Girish Paranjpe.
According to a report by The Times of India, Paranjpe quit as managing director with Silicon Valley-based fuel cell maker Bloom Energy in July this year. He had joined the firm to expand its business in international markets after quitting Wipro in 2011.
An email sent by VCCircle to Shweta Jalan, managing director at Advent, did not elicit a response at the time of filing this article. While the ToI report was confirmed by Paranjpe, it did not specify what he would be working on and if he will be based out of India.
The appointment comes at a time when there have been a slew of buyouts in the Indian IT space, led by Baring Asia's acquisition of Hexaware Technologies besides Apax buying GlobalLogic and Partners Group snapping up CSS Corp.
Paranjpe was said to be in contention for the top job at technology services firm iGate after exit of Phaneesh Murthy, but the position went to Infosys director Ashok Vemuri.
Paranjpe served as joint CEO, IT business and director since 2008 till 2011 at $7-billion Wipro. He had worked with the company since July 1990 in various positions. Paranjpe holds a B Com from Mumbai University and is a Fellow Member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Institute of Cost and Works accountants of India.
Advent, which closed a $10.8 billion global fund last year, has earlier roped in likes of former Axis Bank chief PJ Nayak and Thermax managing director Prakash Kulkarni as operating partners in India.
Nayak later left the firm to work with Morgan Stanley.
Advent, which set up India office in 2009, has been a cautious investor, closing its first deal last year by acquiring a controlling stake in the Hyderabad-based hospital chain CARE Hospitals for $110 million.
Its first investment was in 2007 in Computer Age Management Services Ltd, in which it invested $94 million. The India team also worked on its US-based portfolio company SkillSoft's acquisition of Element K Corporation, subsidiary of IT training company NIIT, for $110 million.
Advent International's name has been linked to IT companies like Patni Computers and Tech Mahindra in India.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
