Piramal Enterprises has announced the appointment of Kalpesh Kikani as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of its INR 11,000+ crore AUM Alternatives Business managed through its subsidiaries and joint ventures, which leverages Piramal Group’s long-standing partnerships with marquee Global investors such as CDPQ, CPPIB, APG, Ivanhoé Cambridge, and Bain Capital.

Kalpesh comes with over 25 years of expertise in investing and financial services including a decade as founding Managing Director at AION Capital (a JV between Apollo Global Management and ICICI Group). AION Capital is a pioneer in building an India-focused private equity business with a focus on value, credit, and control. At AION, Kalpesh led both fundraising and deployment of over $1.25 billion of capital and served on the boards of several of its portfolio companies. 

Previously, Kalpesh spent over 15 years at ICICI Bank. Kalpesh played a significant role in building the bank’s commercial banking business to over $10 billion in assets and the structured finance business to over $ 5 billion in assets. Prior to that, Kalpesh setup and built the bank’s corporate and investment banking business in London to $4 BN in assets. Earlier, Kalpesh was part of the retail banking team at the time of the merger of ICICI Limited and ICICI Bank Limited. Kalpesh started his career at ICICI Limited in project finance where he participated in multibillion-dollar corporate and infrastructure financing. 

Kalpesh holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Computer Science and an MBA in Finance from Bombay University and is a member of the CFA Institute, USA. 

Commenting on the appointment, Anand Piramal, Executive Director, Piramal Group said, “We are delighted to welcome Kalpesh to the Piramal family. Kalpesh brings with him, rich experience in building an alternatives business of global scale and standard in India, a 25 year+ track record of successfully investing in India, and strong relationships with leading global investors. 

While globally, alternative assets have grown rapidly over the last 10 years to over US$ 11 trillion, in India the asset class has grown much faster at over a 20 percent CAGR, making it one of India’s highest growth opportunities.

Our desire is to create a world-class Alternatives business across multiple asset classes that helps fill a significant deficit of long-term risk capital needed by Indian businesses as they help fuel India’s journey to a $5 trillion economy. The Alternatives business is another step in building a new age, digitally-driven, diversified financial services conglomerate at Piramal.”  

“I am excited to join the Piramal team,” said Kalpesh Kikani, CEO, Piramal Alternatives. “Piramal Alternatives has a great business model, has partnered with best-in-class global investors, and is uniquely positioned to build a leading homegrown Alternatives business across private debt, private equity, and infrastructure, amongst others. As the Indian economy evolves, Piramal Alternatives can be a significant provider of customized financing solutions to high-quality Indian corporates who are looking to maximize their potential.”