Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown, which poached eight key managers from ABN Amro India to set up India operations last year, is planning to wind up India operations. The firm is shutting India shop as the firm is selling assets globally, reports Economic Times. Babcock's India MD Manikkan Sangameswaran has that the firm has not received any formal communication in this regard.
Earlier this month, Babcock was told by the creditors to sell all its assets to repay debt. The firm had a strategy of buying ports and property on credit, which imploded as the global financial crisis deepened. It is planning to sell the assets and hand over the proceeds to banks in next two to three years.
Babcock has a 13 member India team with offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. The firm was planning to make private equity investments in infrastructure projects in India. The firm had raised a $400 million fund aimed at investments in China and India. Babcock had also bid for 14 highway projects with Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Construction Co. Ltd.