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Top ICICI Venture Execs Quit, Launch New Firm

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MUMBAI (Reuters) – Three top officials at the private equity arm of ICICI Bank (ICBK.BO), India’s No. 2 lender, have resigned and aim to launch their own fund following the footsteps of former CEO a year ago.

Jayanta Banerjee, president of private equity practice at ICICI Venture, along with two other directors, Anand Vyas and Sunay Mathure, submitted their resignations on Monday, ICICI Venture Chief Executive Vishakha Mulye told Reuters.

Banerjee said the three executives would set up their own private equity fund.

Last year, Renuka Ramnath had resigned as the chief executive of ICICI Venture to launch a new private equity fund, Multiples Alternate Asset Management. 

Private equity investment in India fell more than 60 percent to $4.4 billion in 2009 from $11.9 billion in 2008, according to VCC Edge, which provides data on mergers and acquisitions, and private equity and venture capital deals.

Analysts expect the tide to change this year on improving economic and corporate growth prospects.

ICICI Venture, which manages more than $2 billion of assets, is raising $500 million with an option to raise another $300 million for its India-focused fund, Mulye had told Reuters in January.  (Reporting by Indulal P.M.; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)