Manisha Girotra41, CEO and Country Head, UBS India(Number of times in BT's Most Powerful list: 3)They don't call her the Queen Bee of Indian M&A for nothing. In 2010, Manisha Girotra, CEO and Country Head of UBS, was back at what she does best - playing a role in billion dollar cross-border transactions.
And there was plenty of action, what with nearly 44 per cent, or $24.8 billion being the share of outbound deal volume in the first nine months of 2010. Girotra got a chunk of the action when she advised Zain in Bharti's acquisition of the African telecom operator. She was also advisor to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries in the acquisition of shale gas assets in the United States.
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It is not just the big boys who are keeping her busy. "The most aggression and hunger for M&A is among the mid-cap companies," says Girotra. It is a good time to go shopping overseas, she adds, what with the developed economies still not out of the woods and valuations stagnant in the Western world. Girotra's mandate in India now extends beyond investment banking. She is also heading the commercial banking operations - UBS India got its first branch licence from the Reserve Bank of India in early 2008, and Girotra's focus is to have a full-service bank providing services in commercial and high-end retail banking. "The Indian corporate is very sophisticated and looking for all services under one roof," she explains.
However, you don't have to be a genius to figure out what gets Girotra's adrenaline racing - the hunt for that next big deal, even if it means staying away from home on Sundays. "This is the best time to acquire," stresses Girotra. And the best time to be a deal maker.
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Rajiv Bhuva