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    Suits & sayings: Walk this way to the exit

    Synopsis

    ET’s weekly roundup of the wackiest whispers and murmurs in corporate corridors & policy parlours...

    ET Bureau
    ET’s weekly roundup of the wackiest whispers and murmurs in corporate corridors & policy parlours...

    Walk this way… to the exit
    Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, which houses the civil aviation ministry and the Airports Authority of India, may need to mark the way to the exit in fluorescent lighting. The complex constitutes three blocks and invariably mystifies visitors, including airline CEOs, who complain that the maze can be highly confusing. On Thursday, it was the turn of aviation secretary RN Choubey himself to be seized by doubt about where exactly the exit was after he came out of a meeting from the seminar hall on the third floor. Journalists then safely guided him to the exit.

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    No Plans to Return When Syed Safawi, outgoing CEO of Viom Networks, recently walked into the Bharti Airtel office, tongues started wagging and rumour mills began working overtime. Was Safawi returning to Airtel? After all, not many moons ago, Syed had steered Airtel’s international wireless operations as executive director before heading off to Reliance Communications and thereafter, Viom. He, however, emphatically denied the “return buzz” and said he was merely there to meet with the Bharti Foundation in the context of his own NGO, the E&H Foundation, which educates more than 10,000 girls in Uttar Pradesh. The gossip grapevine isn’t quite convinced though.

    Outside Contender When it comes to who could succeed Raghuram Rajan as governor of the Reserve Bank of India, almost every conceivable name has been spoken of or written about—from Rakesh Mohan to Urjit Patel to KV Kamath. But one name that hasn’t really made it so far to the speculative list and that could actually be a reality is Narendra Jadhav, a former RBI executive director. He headed the RBI’s economic research cell, having worked there for more than 30 years. In fact, he was recently nominated to the Rajya Sabha, which makes him a candidate acceptable to the political establishment too.

    Return of the War Horses Promoters of family-run businesses usually never let experienced hands leave the firm even after they reach retirement age, retaining them as consultants or advisors. At the $41-billion Aditya Birla group, veteran OP Puranmalka, who retired as head of the cement business, has been retained as advisor to the division even after another veteran KK Maheshwari took charge as his successor. Puranmalka will now have the mandate of turning around the 21.5-million tonne cement business the group purchased from JaiPrakash Associates for `16,000 crore. In another move, former veteran of Vedanta Resources Kuldip Kaura will join as advisor to the conglomerate after retiring from the group some years ago.

    Another Fund may Leave An American private equity firm, which made a splash in India by purchasing minority stakes in tower companies, broadcast channels and cinema halls sound track system providers, seems to be shutting shop in India now. Its country head has moved to Singapore and a skeletal staff manages the three portfolio companies. Last fortnight, it sold a minority stake in a tower company for a loss and the investment banker that had the mandate had to hold the shares on its books, unable to find a buyer in block trades in the market.

    Scrambling for a Piece After the announcement of a proposal to merge private life insurers HDFC Life and Max Life to create an entity that would surpass ICICI Life, rainmakers are vying for any sort of role in the various mandates. Some top bosses of foreign banks flew to Delhi to meet Analjit Singh, owner of Max Life, seeking a mandate for the fairness opinion or in an advisory role. Local banks are also chasing the veteran investor for a role in the merger process and that too for a nominal fee. But Singh has left everything to his existing bankers and is said to be busy with his vineyards in South Africa.

    Late-Night Calls At an event in Mumbai, Mastek founder Ashank Desai was telling a bunch of entrepreneurs how hard it was starting up in the old days, with troubles not restricted to just raising funds. Because an IT services business has no physical products and most clients were in the US, Desai’s mother was baffled by what he was doing. “I had nothing to show her and I was making calls in the evening and late in the night. She was convinced I was doing some kind of shady business!”

    A Head for Maths This paper reported last week that American private equity fund TPG Capital, headed by ace fund manager Puneet Bhatia, will purchase ICICI Home Finance after year-long discussions. Bhatia, a canny investor with an enviable record in returns for TPG, this time sought help from veteran banker PJ Nayak, who helped build Axis Bank from scratch. Nayak, who is advising the fund on its bank in Sri Lanka, is said to have helped with the maths.


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