Citigroup announced today the appointment of Pramit Jhaveri as Citi Country Officer (CCO) of the firm's businesses and franchise in India. In this role, he will oversee all of Citi's businesses in India, including the Institutional Clients Group, Consumer Banking and Global Cards and Wealth Management businesses. Mr. Jhaveri succeeds Mark Robinson, who has decided to pursue an opportunity outside Citi. Based in Mumbai, Mr. Jhaveri will report to Shirish Apte, CEO of Citi Asia Pacific.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Apte said: "Pramit brings a wealth of experience, excellent client relationships and an impressive track record of building market-leading businesses. He is ideally placed to drive our efforts to continue to invest and grow in India, which remains a priority market for Citi globally.
I would also like to thank Mark for his outstanding service to Citi over a distinguished 25-year career and wish him the very best in his future endeavours."
Mr. Jhaveri is a 23-year Citi veteran, who was previously Head of Global Banking India and Vice Chairman, Asia Investment Banking, where he led Citi India's investment banking franchise and the South Asia capital markets business.
Under his leadership, Citi has played a leading role in helping India's corporate champions expand overseas, including advising and providing financing for Tata Motors purchase of JLR and Tata Steel's acquisition of Corus. Citi has led domestically in M&A, advising Reliance Petroleum on its domestic merger with Reliance Industries last year and played a lead role in the consolidation of the Indian Towers sector, including acting as financial advisor to Tata Teleservices in the merger of its tower subsidiary WTTIL with Quippo for US$2.6bn; and to GTL in its acquisition of Aircel Towers for US$1.8bn.
In capital markets, Citi has helped Indian clients raise close to US$20bn from local and international markets since 2009, according to data provider Dealogic. This includes helping Tata Group companies raise close to US$2bn from equity capital markets since 2009, including equity follow-ons for Tata Motors and the first QIP and CB combo for L&T. Other highlights included a US$600mn offering for Hindalco and US$577mn for Oil India in 2009. In 2010, Citi was the only international bank to be on both the US$2.3bn and US$1.7bn government offerings in NMDC and NTPC. Citi was also the sole book runner on the US$570mn of secondary placement of shares held by Petroleum Trust in Reliance Industries as well as US$423mn monetization of Daimler Benz’s stake in Tata Motors.
Mr. Jhaveri said: "Citi has built a market-leading franchise in India and I look forward to working with the very strong and experienced local management team on the ground to achieve our growth plans in the market. Our focus is to continue to build out our core businesses and deliver the best Citi products and services to our clients in this priority market."
In recognition of its dominant position in investment banking, Citi has been named the best foreign investment bank in India by Finance Asia Magazine for three consecutive years.
Citi India has also recently launched an integrated Commercial Bank to serve the Business and Professional, SME and MME segments, and introduced several new consumer products, including a new credit card rewards platform; CitiHome One mortgage loan and the SelectOne wrap portfolio service. It has recently expanded its NRI program to 74 branches in the U.S., including establishing a new presence in Florida and in the New England region. India (Bengaluru) was also the site for the launch of Citi Tap and Pay, one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive contactless mobile payment pilots undertaken using NFC (Near Field Communications) technology.
