US-based private equity major TA Associates has appointed Standard Chartered Private Equity's Dhiraj Poddar as a Director. Poddar, who will be based out of Mumbai, will focus on investments in growth companies in India and other emerging markets, according to a statement.
VCCircle was the first to report that Poddar, who was till recently director at StanChart PE, will join TA Associates.
Poddar was with the private equity arm of Standard Chartered since 2005. He has worked on investments across the BPO, financial services, auto components and the travel space. Prior to joining SCPE, he worked with Progeon, the ITES arm of Infosys, as part of the team that set up the KPO division. The IIM-Ahmedabad graduate has also served a stint with ICICI Securities as an assistant vice president.
TA Associates opened its office in India last year and has closed two deals this year. It picked up a 16% stake in Dr Lal PathLabs, one of the country's diagnostics and pathology services firm, for $35 million last month. TA Associates also backed Gurgaon-based handset manufacturer Micromax Informatics Ltd, which is planning an IPO, with a $45 million investment.
“Dhiraj has a wealth of experience in the Indian private equity market. He will play a pivotal role in advising TA on prospective investments in profitable growth companies across the array of industries in which TA focuses,” said Naveen Wadhera, Director at TA Associates Advisory Pvt. Ltd.
