Growth Equity Investor, General Atlantic Announces its Expanded Team in India

GREENWICH, Conn. and MUMBAI, India, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- General Atlantic LLC ("GA"), a leading global growth equity firm, today announced that it has strengthened and expanded its investment team in India with several new hires, underscoring the firm's long-term commitment to pursuing growth equity investment opportunities in India and South East Asia.  Under the leadership of Sandeep Naik, who joined the firm as a managing director and head of the firm's Mumbai, India office in late 2012, GA's India team now includes eight full-time investment professionals and two Advisory Directors.

"As an important high-growth economy, India will continue to be a core element of General Atlantic's strategy of investing in growth companies around the world," said William Ford, CEO of General Atlantic, who is visiting India this week.  "GA is active in several Indian sectors opening up to new investment, including financial services, healthcare, technology, business services, and consumer retail.  We also see attractive investment opportunities arising from the rapid growth of the emerging middle class."

Mr. Ford continued, "Sandeep has gotten off to a terrific start in leading GA's highly talented team.  GA is better positioned than ever to provide entrepreneurs and management teams of the region's high-growth businesses with the long-term expertise and capital they need to scale up, expand and take full advantage of their market opportunities."

In addition to Mr. Naik, new members of GA's team of investment professionals in India include Shantanu Rastoogi, as principal; and Vijay Venkat and Varun Talukdar, both as associates.  Existing team members Ranjit Pandit and Abhay Havaldar have both been named advisory directors, and will continue to be involved with GA's portfolio companies in an advisory capacity.

Mr. Naik commented, "I am very pleased to be a part of General Atlantic in pursuing opportunities with Indian growth companies – particularly those with a desire to expand globally.  GA has a fantastic track record as a minority shareholder and value added partner to management teams, which makes us perfectly suited for opportunities in India.  Our evergreen fund structure affords us the flexibility to hold investments much longer than traditional private equity firms allowing us to help build value and manage through market volatility.  In addition, our domain expertise and ability to help scale companies makes us an ideal partner for India promoters, management and growth oriented entrepreneurs." 

Sandeep Naik was previously a partner and co-head of the India office for Apax, leading investments in the healthcare, financial & business services, and retail & consumer sectors.  He has both led and participated in a number of investments including Apollo Hospitals, Spectrum Labs, Esprit Pharma and Xanodyne.  He also served as a director of publicly listed Apollo Hospitals.

Prior to joining Apax, Mr. Naik was a global marketing manager at global medical device leader Medtronic, a scientist at the world renowned Mayo Clinic, and a consultant with McKinsey and Company.  He is the co-founder of a medical device start-up firm, InfraScan Inc., which is focused on detecting bleeding inside the brain using a handheld device.

Mr. Naik has a BTech in Instrumentation Engineering from the University of Mumbai, an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Medical College of Virginia and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.  He is also a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and serves on the Global Agenda Council on 'New Order of Economic Thinking'.

General Atlantic manages approximately $17 billion and invests between $1.5 billion and $2 billion per year in growth companies globally.  Since it opened an investment advisory office in Mumbai in 2002, General Atlantic has invested about $1.2 billion in Indian growth companies, including its most recent partnership with Fourcee, a logistics company, and IndusInd Bank, a leading bank and financial services provider.  In India itself it has returned over $1.4 billion making it one of the most successful investors in the region.  Other current and prior portfolio companies include Genpact, Mu Sigma, National Stock Exchange (NSE), InfoTech, IBS Software Services, Jubilant, and Patni.

About General Atlantic
GENERAL ATLANTIC is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. GA combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great management and build exceptional businesses worldwide. Established in 1980, GA manages approximately $17 billion in capital and has more than 75 investment professionals based in Greenwich, New York, Palo Alto, London, Dusseldorf, Hong Kong, Beijing, Mumbai and Sao Paulo. For further information and a listing of GA's public and private portfolio companies, see www.generalatlantic.com.

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