L Catterton ropes in seniors from Affinity Equity, Sequoia

By Bruhadeeswaran R

  • 08 Feb 2021
Credit: Thinkstock

United States-based private equity firm L Catterton has made two senior hires to strengthen its India and Southeast Asia teams, according to a release. 

The global consumer-focused private equity firm announced the appointment of Yock Siong "Song" Tee who will join the firm in the Singapore office on March 1 to oversee Southeast Asia. 

Anjana Sasidharan will join in the Mumbai office on February 15, to oversee earlier-stage investments across India and Southeast Asia.

The development comes after the PE firm bet $250 million last year on Reliance Industries Ltd, its biggest cheque in the country since entering India nearly a decade ago.

The firm has reviewed its Asia strategy over the past few years, especially after the new avatar resulting from the merger of LVMH’s PE unit L Capital and US-based Catterton in early 2016.

Tee joins L Catterton from Affinity Equity Partners, one of Asia's largest PE firms, where he covered Southeast Asian markets, executing late-stage growth and buyout transactions across consumer, healthcare, and education sectors. 

Prior to Affinity, Tee was an associate director at Temasek, where he was part of the CIO office, working on transactions across strategies and sectors. 

Tee started his career as a management consultant in McKinsey & Company's Singapore office, and received an MBA degree from the Wharton School.

Sasidharan joins L Catterton after nearly a decade at Sequoia Capital, where she led numerous transactions for the firm. She brings expertise in early-stage, fast-growing, and disruptive companies across a number of consumer categories, with particular experience in the healthcare space.

While at Sequoia, she led the formation of Sequoia Spark, a community platform designed to foster collaboration and engagement among women founders across India and Southeast Asia.

Sasidharan began her career at McKinsey & Company in India. She received an MBA degree from IIM Ahmedabad and a bachelor's degree in engineering from the National Institute of Technology in Trichy.

Earlier in 2020, L Catterton welcomed Saurabh Mehta, who joined the firm from CX Partners.

L Catterton continues to be led in India and the Middle East by Ketki Paranjpe, who has been with the firm since its inception in Asia in 2009.

L Catterton has over $22 billion of equity capital across fund strategies and 17 offices around the world. Since 1989, the firm has made over 200 investments in leading consumer brands.