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Vivek Law
MUMBAI, DEC 21: Top investment banker Shaun Browne, the flagbearer of the HSBC group's investment banking operations in the country for the past seven years is going back to the group's headquarters in London.
Browne who had virtually made India his home and had become a sort of an expert on the country, is believed to be heading back to the headquarters as the head of a global corporate finance team.
He is expected to exit in the next three to four months once his replacement has been found. When contacted Browne confirmed that he was going back to the headquarters but declined to comment any further.
Sources in the group, however, told The Financial Express that the process of finding his replacement has already been kicked-off and that he would in all probability be heading a vital global corporate finance team for HSBC Investment Banking. The investment banking operations of the group are carried out through corporate finance teams each of which takes care of a particular industrysector.
"He has been heading the group's investment banking operations in the country for the past seven years and had carved a name for himself. And considering that this investment banking is largely contact driven his loss is going to be greatly felt", said an official of the group.
Browne had first started looking at opportunities arising out of India in 1992 when the phase of reforms had been launched and Indian companies were looking aggressively at GDRs and external commercial borrowings.
In the first four years, Browne operated out of London and kept shuttling between India and the headquarters. In 1996, he came to India to set up HSBC Investment Banking's liaison office in New Delhi.
By the middle of 1996, HSBC Investment Banking decided to set up an Indian subsidiary and Browne was appointed the chief executive officer of the entity, HSBC Capital Markets, in which the HSBC group holds a 75 per cent stake and the rest is held by individuals.
The group's investment banking arm now has over100 employees and has been associated with several mergers and acquisition deals.
Browne who has been a regular feature at all seminars had been involved with the mergers and acquisitions industry in India which suddenly boomed in the past two to three years. Although not on the takeover panel committee, his inputs had been sought by the panel.
His recent initiative had been a closed-door seminar for some top 50 corporates on how to go about with buy-back of shares.
Browne was currently involved with the proposed merger exercise between HSBC Capital Markets and HSBC Securities. The merger is being planned as a fallout of the Indian partner in the broking venture falling exiting.
The group plans to take its stake in broking venture to 75 per cent from the current 51 per cent. This would mean that both the investment banking subsidiaries would have the group holding a 75 per cent stake. "We are therefore looking at a merger between the two entities but it is still in a preliminary stage", said a groupsource.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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