P.J. Nayak, who left Morgan Stanley as country head more than a year ago, has joined US private equity fund TPG Capital as advisor to help it set up a bank in Sri Lanka. Puneet Bhatia, MD and countyr head of TPG Capital India said the firm will be working with Nayak to help grow the bank. Nayak confirmed the development. Nayak, a former civit servant and CMD of Axis Bank, had prepared a report on financial sector reforms of public sector banks at the instance of RBI suggesting several measures to improve the lopsided corporate governance practices in public sector banks, including appointment of independent directors and cutting down government’s controlling stake in these banks. TPG Capital Management had bought a majority stake in Sri Lanka’s Union Bank of Colombo. The firm, through its affiliate Culture Financial Holdings, will take 70% stake in UBC through a combination of primary and secondary shares and warrants and allows the fund to increase its stake further to 75%. UBC is the eighth largest of Sri Lanka’s 12 listed banks with a market value of $70million. TPG has invested billions of dollars in India and, in its latest deal, bought a minority stake in urban micro finance lender Janalakshmi Financial Services for $600 million, apart from its investments in Shriram Capital. It also owns majority stake in Vishal Retail’s back-end operations and a minority stake in Manipal Hospitals.
