Ashok Wadhwa
CEO & MD, Ambit Corporate Finance Pte Ltd.
A chartered accountant and a law graduate, Mr. Wadhwa was appointed as the erstwhile Arthur Andersen's first employee in India and was associated with the firm for fourteen years. During the period - 1989 to 1996, he headed the Tax and Business Advisory practice of Arthur Andersen, India, and thereafter served as Managing Partner of Arthur Andersen, India. In 1997, he left the institution to found Ambit Corporate Finance and RSM & Co.
Ambit Corporate Finance has grown to be one of India’s leading investment banks and over the last 3 years has consistently ranked amongst the top 3 Investment Banks in India’s M&A league tables for number of deals. In 2000, Mr. Wadhwa along with Gary Wendt, former Chairman & CEO of GE Capital Corporation, launched GW Capital, a US$ 180 Mn premier private equity investment fund.
Mr. Wadhwa has expanded Ambit’s presence in the financial services industry by launching its securities business - Ambit Capital and entering into a joint venture with Japan based Nikko Asset Management to launch Mutual Fund Business in India.
Mr. Wadhwa is a former President of Bombay Chambers of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). BCCI is one of the oldest Chambers of Commerce in India, having a long and illustrious history of 171 years of continuous service to business and industry.
Mr. Wadhwa is currently a Managing Committee member of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and is serving as the Chairman of The Capital Market Committee of FICCI.
Mr. Wadhwa is also a Managing Committee member of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
Over the years, Mr. Wadhwa has counseled the Indian Government on numerous macroeconomic issues encompassing industry policy rationalization, privatization, removal of infrastructural bottlenecks and foreign investment. He has also represented the Government of India on the consolidation of Air India and Indian Airlines, which has now been successfully implemented.
He has received several awards / commendations, in recognition of his excellence in the field of Finance including the Priyadarshini Academy award for outstanding contribution in the field of financial management.
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Amit Mukherjee
MD, Ambit Corporate Finance
Prior to joining Ambit, Amit Mukherjee was Managing Director of Lazard India, where he was responsible for strengthening client relationships and providing strategic advice to leading global and domestic organisations. At Lazard India, he led the healthcare, FMCG, media and technology practices.
He joined Lazard India in 1989 and played an integral role in various initiatives undertaken by the group, including venture capital, technology transfer and mutual funds.
Key transactions led by him include the merger of Cynamide India and Wyeth Laboratories and the simultaneous demerger of Cynamide Agchem business, the disposal of HLL's Seed business, the acquisition by Godrej of HLL's Animal Feed business, the sale of Bull SA's stake in PSI to the Aditya Birla Group and the divestment of TRW's stake in Lucas TVS.
Prior to Lazard India, Mr. Mukherjee worked with Larsen & Toubro and Bakelite Hylam Limited.
He is on the Board of Saksoft Limited and has served on the Management Committee of Assocham.
He had also been a part of the World Economic Forum Annual meets at Davos and has been a member of Indian business delegations to the United States.
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Sanjay Sakhuja
MD, Ambit Corporate Finance
Mr. Sakhuja has been a Partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions practice at Ambit since August 2003.
He has been instrumental in Ambit achieving a number of successful deal closures in this period, including the BNP-Srei Joint Venture (2007), the CBOP - LKB merger (2007), the Centurion Bank private equity placement (2006), the BNP - Geojit transaction (2006), the Centurion Bank - Bank of Punjab merger (2005), the sale of the AMP Sanmar Life Insurance business to Reliance (2005) and the sale of an auto component business to Hella (2005).
Prior to joining Ambit, Mr. Sakhuja has been a Managing Director at Lazard India (2000 - 2003), a Partner at Arthur Andersen (1994 - 2000), the Treasurer of Indal (1993 - 1994) and a Vice President at Citibank N.A. (1984 - 2003).
He is a Chartered Accountant by training and a graduate in Economics from St. Stephen's College.
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Sanjay Bansal
MD, Ambit Corporate Finance
Sanjay is a founder member of Ambit Corporate Finance and a seasoned Investment Banker. A Chartered Accountant by profession with Advanced Management from Kellogg School of Business, Northwestern; Sanjay has lead transaction closures for leading Indian Business Houses and trans-national corporations.
His previous work experience has been in Corporate Finance at KPMG and Arthur Andersen, while he has been in the Corporate Finance business for over 15 years.
As an expert negotiator, he has lead many marquee transactions to closure across industries such as Consumer Markets, Automotives, Media, Real Estate and Hospitality etc. Sanjay presently heads the “Alternate Capital” practice at Ambit Corporate Finance.
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Chetas Desai
MD, Ambit Corporate Finance
Chetas Desai, a Chartered Account and Law graduate is Partner with Ambit at Mumbai. Mr. Desai’s area of expertise includes advisory services involving mergers & acquisitions and business re-structuring. In his career spanning over 15 years, Mr. Desai has led several complex assignments, some of them cross-border, involving Indian corporates and leading MNCs operating in India.
He was recently involved in the transactions of the divestiture of a construction equipment business to Manitowoc Crane Group Inc.; assisting in structuring of the Cairn India IPO. Prior to joining Ambit, Chetas was an Associate Director at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, where he advised MNC clients such as Bayer & Novartis on their M&A initiatives.
His core strengths lie in strategic analysis, project management and transaction structuring. Mr. Desai has a wealth of sectoral expertise in working with companies in the pharmaceutical, auto ancillary, and FMCG domains.
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Nikhil Puri
MD, Ambit Corporate Finance
Nikhil Puri has recently joined Ambit Corporate Finance as a Managing Director. Nikhil brings with him a rich experience in the international Investment Banking space, based on his 12 year stint in New York.
Nikhil started his career with Arthur Andersen, back in the late 80s. Then, he worked with Lehman Brothers in New York for four years, and then moved on to Bear, Strearns, where he had been working for the past eight years. He was Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking Practice, prior to joining Ambit.
Nikhil has till date executed 45+ strategic and financing transactions covering pharmaceuticals, medical technologies and OTC’s spread over Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, USA and India. These deals have covered a diverse spectrum of the Investment banking activities including M&A (buy & sell side), sale of divisions and assets, leveraged buyouts, licensing/collaborations, and capital raising - private & public equity, bank and high yield debt.
A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, India, Nikhil is a B.Com graduate and holds an MBA degree from the Stern School of Business, NYU.
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