Independents' day: private equity entrepreneurs
Forbes India 8/13/2010
by Shishir Prasad and Rohin Dharmakumar
The biggest concern for limited partnerships is that in spite of a few blockbuster exits here and there, the aggregate returns from private equity investing in India over the last decade is abysmally low, possibly in single digit percentage points. Add to this that, according to consulting company Bain & Company, the amount of "dry powder" in India, or capital committed by LPs that are yet to be invested, is enough to fund the next 2-4 years of private equity activity in India. The presence of over 300 funds in India - at least on paper - completes the conundrum: too many funds sitting on too much capital, delivering very poor returns. Not exactly the ideal market.
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Succeeding a success
The Economist 8/11/2010
If India were a nation of gamblers, the betting on who will succeed Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata group, would be furious. Since Tata Sons, the holding company for India's second-biggest conglomerate, announced last week that it was seeking Mr Tata's replacement, there has been a whirl of speculation about whom it will appoint. Recent research by Bain & Company found that most Indian companies at no point discuss how chief executives will be appointed.
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Indian groups failing to plan for successor
Financial Times 8/6/2010
by James Lamont
In a country where corporate leaders and politicians enjoy extraordinary professional longevity, lack of succession planning is a key failure of boards at many family-owned businesses in India, leaving them highly vulnerable after the retirement or death of their leaders. According to research by Bain & Company, the US management consultants, more than 75 per cent of company boards in India do not discuss chief executive succession planning at all.
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Dealtalk -Sanofi's best bet still may be smaller deals
Reuters 8/3/2010
by Jessica Hall and Toni Clarke
Sanofi-Aventis has grabbed the headlines with its $18.4 billion bid for Genzyme Corp, but the French drugmaker may be wiser to stick with smaller, bolt-on acquisitions. "Pharma has begun to stagnate. Companies are having to do deals from a position of weakness rather than strength and that's not a good starting place," said Tim Van Biesen, head of Bain & Company's North American healthcare practice. "It can make sense if you're leveraging core capabilities, but if you're trying to enter new categories with new customers and new geographies -- for every degree of complexity you're adding more risk."
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Dual MBA/MSPPM student alumni spotlight
Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business 8/2/2010
by Craig Gaites
A spotlight on dual MBA/MSPPM student Craig Gaites in which he states that during his first year at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, he made more progress towards his goals than he "would have thought possible and landed a dream internship at Bain & Company".
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