Former Nokia India and Pepsico India chief Shiv Shivakumar, who was with the Aditya Birla Group most recently, has joined global PE firm Advent International as its Operating Partner. “I see this more as a coaching role,” said Shivakumar, who joined the firm on the auspicious day of Tamil New Year.
“I have been a CEO for half my career - now I am moving from player to coach,” he said, describing how his role would be to evaluate deals, and help portfolio companies grow better.
Advent, which has been investing in India since 2007, already has a sizable portfolio in India with assets of nearly $3 billion. In 2021, the deep-pocketed PE giant (it has assets over $100 billion) had bought out Eureka Forbes, and in December 2022, it picked a majority stake in Suven Pharma. Other investments in India include Dixcy Textiles, Enamor, DFM Foods and Manjushree Technopack. It also has a small stake in Aditya Birla Capital.
Last year, Advent had done a $25 billion fundraise and publicly announced its intention of investing $5 billion in India and Asia. “All investment firms are hugely big on Asia, and specifically on India,” said Shivakumar, who feels in this decade PE firms will play a significant role.
The opportunities for PE to invest in good assets are immense now, he explains as a lot of MNCs are constantly rejigging their portfolio, and a lot of Indian companies when they reach a certain scale – ₹2,000 crore or so – get tired as they have taken a few generations to get there. That’s where the PE firm comes in, bringing in expertise to scale further.
Asked how he sees the PE investment mood given the economic climate and the dip in inflows, he said, “Don’t worry about the climate. I have always believed that investing in India tomorrow will be more expensive than investing today.”
In his new role, Shivakumar will be based in Gurgaon, and says he will have the flexibility to continue doing what he loves. He will continue his mentoring assignments and board roles (he is on the Board of Governors of IIM Udaipur and the non-exec chairman on the board of directors of Burger King).