Investment banks are actively expanding their teams to capture key regulatory compliance roles on initial public offerings as India's primary market activity accelerates. According to reports from Mint, boutique advisory firms and international lenders including Avendus Capital Pvt, Moelis & Co, Rothschild & Co, Societe Generale SA and BNP Paribas SA are exploring options to build out or enhance their 'left-lead' equity capital market capabilities. Two firms currently limited to ancillary sectors such as wealth management are also looking to build out merchant banking capabilities through direct hiring of left-lead personnel.
In India's equity capital markets, the left-lead bookrunning manager directly engages with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). As reported by Mint, their responsibilities include preparing the draft red herring prospectus, handling legal correspondence, representing the issuer in query sessions with regulators following document filing, and valuing the offer once all stakeholders are consulted. A senior banker at a foreign institution noted that issuers prioritize banks that manage regulatory processes directly with Sebi, as sub-syndication roles carry lower fee margins.
The talent expansion coincides with sustained activity in India's primary equity market, which is touted as the world's busiest IPO market. According to data from Prime Database as reported by Mint, as of early September, shares worth ₹75,000 crore were sold in 58 mainboard IPOs, with SBI Funds Management Ltd and Manipal Health Enterprises Ltd being the largest offers. The upcoming mega IPOs of Jio Platforms Ltd and the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd are expected to be marquee liquidity events.
Mizuho-backed Avendus Capital is looking to expand its ECM team from the current 10 members as it builds left-lead expertise, with plans to hire three or four more professionals over the next six months, according to managing director and head of ECM Gaurav Sood. Zerodha Corporate Advisors Ltd, a unit of Nithin Kamath's Zerodha Broking Ltd, secured a merchant banking licence from Sebi on 2 September and is looking to expand its core team of six personnel to hire left-lead bankers. The push for left-lead talent is driven by the recognition that strong ECM execution teams can influence clients, bring in mandates, and drive execution.
