Barclays Plc is preparing to re-enter India’s equity capital markets business. Pramod Kumar, chief executive officer of Barclays India, said, “We’ve got a very strong investment banking offering.” The bank is adding bankers and capital to compete in the busy market. This move marks their return after nearly a decade.
Barclays Plc is preparing to re-enter India’s equity capital markets business, the bank’s local chief said, as the London-based bank adds bankers and capital to compete in one of the world’s busiest markets for share sales.
“There’s a long-term structural opportunity,” Pramod Kumar, chief executive officer of Barclays India, said in a television interview at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi. “We’ve got a very strong investment banking offering across financing, M&A, corporate banking. I think this is the only piece, so we are thinking seriously about it.”
The move would mark Barclays’ return to India’s ECM business after nearly a decade, allowing it to compete for underwriting mandates as the IPO pipeline stays strong after two straight years of unprecedented deals. The boom has also drawn interest from banks including Emirates NBD PJSC and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in expanding their presence in India.
Kumar, who is also the bank’s Asia-Pacific investment banking vice-chairman, said the ECM return will take time as it is “getting something off the ground from ground zero.” He added that despite the current weakness in capital markets, India will continue to see a strong fundraising environment that’s supported by retail and institutional investors.
Barclays is investing across its investment bank, the largest part of its India business, as well as its corporate and private banks, according to Kumar. The lender has injected more than £500 million ($664 million) of capital over the past five years, added bankers over the past year and is investing in technology, he said.
The bank is also among the most active players in the rupee market, including syndicating rupee bonds for clients, Kumar said in the interview.
Barclays has operated in India’s GIFT City for about five years and plans to keep investing there given the hub’s fiscal and tax advantages, he said.