The top-level churn in the private equity industry continues.
Gul Mukhey, who heads Principal Investments and Private Equity for HSBC (India), has quit after a two-and-a-half-year stint at HSBC.
According to sources, Gul Mukhey, who put in his papers last Friday, will serve a three-month gardening leave. When contacted, Gul Mukhey declined to comment. An e-mail sent to HSBC India was unanswered at the time of posting this report.
Last month, Luis Miranda of IDFC Private Equity decided to step down from the position of chief executive officer from November 1, 2010.
Gul Mukhey joined HSBC Private Equity Advisors (India) Private Limited (PEAI) in Mumbai in 2008. Prior to HSBC, he worked with ING Barings (London) and Virgin. He also worked as HT Media’s Head of Business Development in Delhi. He is a graduate from the London School of Economics and holds a Masters in Finance from London Business School.
At Virgin, he worked on the sale of the ISP Virgin Net to NTL, the IPO of Virgin Blue airline in Australia and the exit of the Virgin Cars and Virgin Wines businesses before focusing on Virgin’s entry into India.
During Gul Mukhey’s period, HSBC invested $10.64 million (Rs 50 crore) in Mumbai-based Avitel Post Studioz Ltd., the company involved with post-production and related services for both Indian and overseas media & entertainment clients, through its HSBC Asian Ventures Fund 3 Ltd. Another investment closed during his tenure was $15-million (Rs 70 crore) in Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd. along with Intel Capital and International Finance Corporation, through HSBC Asian Ventures Fund 3 Ltd.
Apart from Gul Mukhey, the Indian team includes Alok Gupta, investment director, who also joined in 2008, Arun Uday, senior manager, Prateek Garg, associate and Amit Garg, analyst.
HSBC Private Equity Asia Ltd. (HPEA) is the private equity and venture capital arm of HSBC Group, which provides capital to early to mid-stage companies operating in China, Taiwan, South Korea, India and certain countries in Southeast Asia. It has a $60-million HSBC Private Equity India Fund Ltd. for investments in India and South Asia.
In the recent past, a large number of senior executives left the organizations either to join other PE firms or to set up their own funds. The veterans who are in the fundraising process include PR Srinivasan (ex-Citigroup Venture Capital International), Harsha Raghavan (ex-Candover) and Subbu Subramaniam (ex-Baring Private Equity). Rajesh Khanna, who left Warburg Pincus, also plans to set up his own fund.