Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd (KMCC), investment banking arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, has entered into a strategic alliance with New York-based investment banking advisory firm Evercore Partners Inc. for cross-border merger and acquisition advisory services among India, the USA, the UK and Mexico, the company has said in a statement today.
Under this agreement, the respective investment banks will leverage their combined expertise, strong knowledge of global and local markets and deep corporate relationships to cater to their clients.
“In the changing landscape of global investment banking where specialised advisory firms are gaining prominence over bulge-bracket investment banks, we find in Evercore a strong, world-class advisory firm,” Uday Kotak, executive vice-chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank commented on the partnership.
Founded in 1991, KMCC provides investment banking and clearing services in India and internationally. The company operates in two segments – advisory & transactional services and trading & principal investments. The firm has advised major international corporations such as CRH, eBay, Hutchison Whampoa, Lafarge, Standard & Poor’s, Thomas Cook and Walmart on their India entry and acquisition strategies.
“We are pleased to be partnering with Kotak, the leading Indian investment bank. This strategic relationship further expands our global reach and is another critical step in our ability to serve our clients around the globe,” said Roger Altman, executive chairman of Evercore.
Evercore, founded in 2005, operates as an independent investment banking advisory firm and provides advisory services on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and other strategic corporate transactions, primarily for multinational corporations and private equity firms. It also offers restructuring advice to companies in financial transition, as well as to creditors, shareholders, and potential acquirers.
Incidentally, this is not the first-of-its-kind cross-border alliance in India. In September this year, ICICI Securities entered into a joint venture with US-based Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. to leverage business opportunities in the USA and India. The alliance covers a wide range of securities activities including equity and debt capital markets services, advisory services, private equity transactions and wealth management.
Also in 2009, Kotak Investment Banking entered into a co-operation agreement for cross-border mergers and acquisitions advisory with Renaissance Capital, a leading investment bank in Russia/CIS and Sub-Saharan Africa. The alliance plays an active role in the growing cross-border investment flows and M&A activity among India, the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and Africa.
In 2006, Kotak Mahindra had bought out its foreign partner Goldman Sachs’ stake in its separate Indian i-banking and securities JVs when the US-based financial services powerhouse decided to go solo in India after a decade-long partnership.
