Former HDFC Bank CEO Aditya Puri has joined the Carlyle group as a Senior Advisor in Asia, the group announced on Monday. The announcement comes within a week of Puri retiring from HDFC Bank as the chief executive officer and managing director.
Puri will advise the Carlyle team on investment opportunities across Asia and will “provide guidance on the evolving market landscape and new investment opportunities, while also advising Carlyle’s investment professionals and portfolio management teams on building differentiated high quality businesses.”
In a statement, Aditya Puri said that he was impressed with Carlyle’s track record in a number of key industry sectors, including its leadership position in financial services, not just in India but across Asia.
“Whether this is with founder-led businesses or large conglomerates, Carlyle’s focus on building better businesses is something I have a great affinity for. It will therefore be a pleasure to act as senior advisor to the Carlyle team in support of their investing activities across Asia,” he said.
XD Yang, Managing Director and Chairman of Carlyle Asia, said, “We are excited to have him join Carlyle as a senior advisor in Asia, and look forward to leveraging his deep expertise and relationships to source new investment opportunities and to help our portfolio companies build better businesses.”
Carlyle’s investments in India include SBI Cards, SBI Life, HDFC Limited and others. The group had recently announced investments in Ajay Piramal’s pharmaceutical business and also a stake in Bharti Airtel’s data centre arm.
Carlyle said it has made investments of around $4.9 billion in financial services as of September 30, 2020, in companies. Other companies where they have invested include PNB Housing Finance, Repco Home Finance, Edelweiss, IIFL, KB Financial Group, China Pacific Insurance, Ant Group, Du Xiaoman Financial, etc.
Puri retired from the HDFC Bank on October 26 after over 26 years at the bank, where he was appointed as the first CEO. Under Puri, HDFC grew to be the largest private sector bank in India.