Has the India team of Citi Venture Capital International (CVCI), the private equity arm of Citigroup, quit? Business Today magazine, dated June 25, hinted in a report that Ajay Relan, Managing Director, of CVCI, and his other colleagues in India like P.R. Srinivasan and Vivek Chhachhi have left the firm to start a private equity shop of their own. A TV channel too flashed news on Monday that Relan and the team have resigned from the firm.
VCCircle could not reach Ajay Relan for his comments as his mobile phone went unanswered. Vivek Chhachhi, a vice president at CVCI, told VC Circle that he is “very much part of CVCI as of nowâ€. However, independent sources confirmed that Relan is on his way out to start his own firm.
Interestingly, earlier it was rumoured that Relan and team would join private equity firm TPG, which apparently is not the case now.
Relan’s name however still apears (at the time of posting this article) on the Citi .
Citi under Relan has invested in companies like Suzlon Energy, KS Oils, Spentex Industries, Jai Balaji Industries, BGR Energy Systems, and several broking firms like Sharekhan, Anand Rathi Securities and Globe Capital Markets.
Relan is a Citi old timer as he has been leading the investments for the firm since 1995. Prior to starting CVCI, Relan was the CEO of Citicorp Securities and Investments Ltd, a Citi affiliate registered in Mumbai and engaged in fund advisory, equities research and bond trading. An economics graduate from St Stephens College in Delhi and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, Relan has worked in various psoitions at Citi in India and abroad.
