Sharma will be based in Mumbai and will be responsible for developing the bankÆs domestic equity and equity-linked capital markets business. He will be DeutscheÆs first dedicated ECM person on the ground in India, but a source familiar with the situation say the bank is planning to set up a small ECM team in the country. The bank already has dedicated teams focusing on corporate finance and investment banking in India.
Last year, Deutsche ranked second for equity and equity-linked issuance denominated in dollars, euros or rupees with $1.48 billion worth of deals and a 9.8% market share, according to Dealogic. Among the deals it worked on were the $1.6 billion sponsored ADR for Infosys, the $224 million IPO for outsourcing firm WNS on the New York Stock Exchange, and three of the Indian property funds that have listed on LondonÆs AIM market over the past couple of months. Deutsche was also one of the most active arrangers of CBs for Indian issuers in the first half of last year before that market virtually died down following a correction in the secondary market.
Sharma brings with him 14 yearsÆ experience in the Indian market within both corporate finance and ECM. He has been with DSP Merrill the entire time, most recently as head of ECM India.
He will report regionally to Ashok Pandit, DeutscheÆs managing director ECM Asia, and locally to Gunit Chadha, managing director and CEO of Deutsche Bank in India.
ôDemand from Indian banks and corporates for equity capital is expected to remain strong in 2007, driven by strong domestic economic growth,ö Pandit said in a written comment to the appointment. ôMr. SharmaÆs experience and well-established relationships in India will greatly benefit our clients in this important market.ö
Sharma is due to start with Deutsche on March 1 after sitting out his gardening leave. He announced his resignation from Merrill after the annual bonus was paid out at the end of January, but is said to have been in negotiations with Deutsche for several months before that.
Merrill has already announced that Sumeet Puri will assume a new combined role as head of ECM and head of structured origination for India. Puri, who is currently head of Asia execution and syndication based in Hong Kong, will transfer to Mumbai to take up his new positions in the next one to two months.
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