India PE stalwart Ajay Relan dies aged 67

Relan’s career in the industry began with Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVCI), where he set up the India operation and was part of a team that raised two global emerging markets funds. He spun out in 2009 and formed CX Partners, closing a debut fund of $550 million in 2010.

Relan stepped back in 2015, saying at the time that he didn’t want to stand in the way of emerging talent and expressing a reluctance, aged 62, to “run around for meetings to Mumbai and Hyderabad.” Nevertheless, three years later, he established Xponentia Capital with P.R. Srinivasan, a former colleague at CVCI, and Devinjit Singh, previously of The Carlyle Group.

“He was a charmer – entrepreneurs and LPs were enthralled by his wit and humor even as colleagues and peers were in awe,” Xponentia said in a statement posted on LinkedIn.

“He was generous with his time and there are many in the industry who owe their successful careers to his mentoring. He was a philanthropist who supported many causes especially education. Above all, he was a very large-hearted person who treasured his family and friends more than material wealth and success.”

Various other industry participants weighed in with tributes. Ashish Dhawan recalled first meeting Relan in 1996, while at Harvard Business School. He was working on a case study on the Indian economy but admitted that the real objective was to meet private equity industry leaders and plan his next career move.

“The meeting with Ajay was memorable,” Dhawan said in a separate LinkedIn post. “He was an iconoclast. You could not button the guy down. He was full of anecdotes and nuggets of wisdom. Sarcastic and yet encouraging and uplifting. I was learning from a master.”

Three years later, Dhawan moved back to India and formed ChrysCapital Partners. He collaborated with Relan on several deals, describing him as “the wildcard in the boardroom … [who] could throw any promoter off guard and had his unique way of persuasion that seemed to work.”

Sumeet Narang, founder and managing director of Samara Capital, first encountered Relan as a management trainee at Citibank in 2001. This was a start of a mentorship that continued through the establishment of Samara five years later, with Narang crediting Relan not only for providing the initial inspiration but also for offering support during the firm’s nascent period.

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