BNP Paribas,which operates in over 70 countries, sees itself emerging as the “go to” investment bank for Indian corporates looking to expand their global footprint through the mergers & acquisitions (M&A) route, Aymar de Liedekerke Beaufort, Head of Territory, India, has said.

“We do see several Indian corporates emerging as champions (at the global stage). We want to work with the top 100 Indian corporates and believe many of these will have specific acquisitions to do in Europe and this is where they may need a bank like us,” Beaufort told BusinessLine in an interview.

Beaufort, who is also the chief of Corporate and Institutional Banking in India, highlighted that Indian corporates have begun to acquire companies abroad for specific needs such as technology and BNP Paribas with its huge global network and one client approach can add value to those corporates looking for specific growth opportunities.

“It’s always good for a CFO to be able to talk to a banker in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and deal with the same bank in Argentina, Korea and Vietnam. We as biggest Euroland investment bank bring network benefits for our clients and for us it is one client approach wherever you go in any part of the world,” he said.

There are good chances where BNP Paribas will know both the buyer ( in India) and seller (in Europe) and this is the trend that is likely to play out in coming days, Beaufort added.

He highlighted that Indian corporates in the IT and pharma sectors are already active on overseas acquisitions in recent days.

“We are positioning ourselves as top leader for banking needs of Indian corporates. We bring an angle that others cannot bring by being the best and biggest market cap in Europe,” he said.

New economy

Beaufort said that BNP Paribas India also wants to move from old economy to new economy and get closer to the champions of the new economy. “That is our vision of next ten years. We want to be closer with those companies that are potentially not part of the top hundred today but will become top hundred in next five years. We need to be agile to look at Indian digital businesses and capture them as they grow”, he said.

Asked if he sees investment bank or corporate banking (BNP Paribas is not into retail banking in India) as growth driver for BNP Paribas India in coming days, he said, “Going forward, I do see both growing, but very difficult to say if both will grow at the same speed. I believe our Investment Banking pie will grow quicker. I do expect more commoditisation of corporate banking as it gets digitised.”

Also, BNP Paribas —just as it wants to be seen as the window to Europe for Indian corporates — is keen that its European corporate clients see it as the window for their journey outside of Europe.

Beaufort, who has been with BNP Paribas for more than 30 years, also oversees as part of his responsibilities the bank’s back-office operations and retail brokerage arm Sharekhan.

Investment destination

He also said that India is even more attractive today as an investment destination than before. This is because other destinations may become more challenging and prospects for India is getting better and better.

“India is in competition with the rest of the world. India has lot to offer by sheer size. Just as corporates focus on client centricity, India should focus on investors to convey that they are welcome and their coming in is seen as positive. Nobody will have wrong perception that India is looking to push their local champions. It’s normal and every country does it, but you have to do it in a fair and transparent way so that foreigners don’t feel they have no space for them,” he said.

Asked if BNP Paribas will look to enter retail banking in India, he replied in the negative. “We don’t expect to be competing on solutions where local banks will be much better than us,” he added.