Ex-CEO of India's HDFC Bank takes advisory role at Carlyle

He will advise the private equity firm on investment opportunities and support portfolio management efforts. 

Puri spent 20 years at Citibank – where he worked with Sunil Kaul, Carlyle’s financial services sector lead in Asia – before becoming the first CEO of HDFC Bank in 1994. During his tenure, the lender grew its assets to $210 billion and achieved a market capitalization of $90 billion, making it India’s most valuable bank. He retired earlier this year.

Carlyle previously invested in Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), the parent of HDFC Bank and one of India’s largest mortgage lenders. The firm committed approximately INR26 billion (then $533 million) in 2007. It exited five years later, generating proceeds of INR57 billion across two transactions. The money multiple was around 2x.

More recent financial services investments in India include SBI Cards & Payment Services, the credit card issuing arm of State Bank of India (SBI). Carlyle paid INR20 billion for a 26% stake in 2017, replacing GE Capital as SBI’s partner. The company went public earlier this year, with Carlyle realizing INR70.4 billion through a partial exit. It retains a 16% interest worth INR132.4 billion.

As of September, Carlyle had invested around $4.9 billion in financial services businesses in Asia, excluding Japan.

“Mr. Puri has been repeatedly accredited as one of the world’s leading global CEOs. We are excited to have him join Carlyle as a senior advisor in Asia, and look forward to leveraging his deep expertise and relationships to source new investment opportunities and to help our portfolio companies build better businesses,” X.D. Yang, a managing director and chairman of Carlyle Asia, said in a statement.

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• Topics
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