KKR appoints Citi veteran as India head

Sanjay Nayar, ex-CEO of Citi's Asian operations will be based in the firm's Mumbai office, which is opening in January. The firm has also hired former Coke executive Ludo Bammens as director of European corporate affairs.

Global buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis has made two key hires in its European and Asian offices.

The firm named Sanjay Nayar as chief executive officer and country head of KKR in India, while in London it appointed Ludo Bammens as head of European corporate affairs.

Nayar has spent the last 23 years with Citigroup, most recently as chief executive of its India and South Asia operations.

Based in the Mumbai office KKR will open in January, Nayar will build a broad based investment platform across a wide range of asset classes such as private equity, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income, the firm said. He will also work to identify new investment opportunities and assist existing portfolio companies with KKR’s growth and investment plans for India.

It is reportedly in negotiations to buy a 47 percent stake in Hyderabad-based cricket team Deccan Chargers for $20m. KKR made its first Indian investment in 2006 with the $900 million acquisition of a majority stake in Nasdaq-listed Flextronics Software Systems. At the time, it was the largest leveraged buyout and technology investment in India.

Separately, the firm has also hired Ludo Bammens as director of European corporate affairs, to be based in London.

Bammens joins from Coca-Cola Company Europe Group where he was director of European public affairs. Before Coca-Cola, he worked at the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceutica where he was also director of European public affairs.