Paul Capital Expands its Emerging Markets Team and Grows Sourcing Agent Network by Retaining Anand Sunderji and Akshat Shukla as Sourcing Agents for India

NEW YORK and MUMBAI, India, Feb. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Capital, a leading global investment firm focused on the private equity secondary market, today announced that it has retained Anand Sunderji and Akshat Shukla as regional sourcing agents for India. Mr. Sunderji and Mr. Shukla will be responsible for sourcing and evaluating secondary private equity transactions in India.

"We continue to anticipate increasing activity in the global secondary market and are excited to further deepen our geographical expertise within Asia as we expand our commitment to emerging markets," said Lucian Wu, Managing Director and Co-Head of Paul Capital's Asia team. "Anand and Akshat have built an extensive network across the Indian private equity ecosystem that will enhance our transaction sourcing efforts and we are excited to have them as our representatives in India," added Bryon Sheets, a San Francisco-based Partner at Paul Capital.

The Indian private equity market is one of the largest and most rapidly growing in the emerging markets and the development of an active secondary market for private equity in India is a sign of the market's sophistication.  Paul Capital is excited to be part of this growth through the development of a local presence.  "To succeed in providing customized liquidity solutions to sellers and understanding the portfolios we look to buy, we believe that local knowledge and expertise is absolutely critical," said Jason Sambanju, Managing Director and Co-Head of Asia.  

Previously, Mr. Sunderji was the co-head of the private equity fund of funds operations at Guggenheim Capital Management (Asia) in Mumbai.  Prior to this he co-led the Asian fund of funds operation for Swiss-based Adveq Management AG where he was responsible for private equity fund investments in India, China, Japan and Australia. Prior to Adveq Mr. Sunderji served as Head of the Investors at the World Economic Forum in Geneva and New York and was responsible for projects in India and China. He started his career at INVESCO where he spent nine years as an equity portfolio manager. Mr. Sunderji has a bachelor of science with honours from the University of Bradford, UK.

Mr. Shukla, prior to joining Paul Capital, managed the Indian investment strategy for Adveq Management AG where the two met. He previously worked in leveraged finance at ING Bank in London and was a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India. Mr. Shukla received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and received his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Mr. Shukla is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst charter holder and is currently a faculty member at the Meridian International School of Business.

About Paul Capital

Founded in 1991, Paul Capital manages US $7.6 billion in capital commitments for its three investment platforms that include private equity secondaries, healthcare royalty and revenue interests, and venture capital fund of funds. The firm has offices in Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and São Paulo. The Paul Secondary funds have completed more than 175 secondary market acquisitions of limited partnership interests and portfolios of direct private equity investments. Through its secondary fund program, Paul Capital is now a limited partner in over 350 partnerships and 700 funds. The secondary team provides customized liquidity solutions for sellers of private equity and has become a trusted partner of sellers from around the world seeking fair value, confidentiality and timely transactions. Please visit www.paulcapital.com.

SOURCE Paul Capital