Lambah joins the US bank as a managing director, based in Mumbai. At Credit Suisse he was head of the bank's technology, media and telecom (TMT) group in Hong Kong. Lambah joined Credit Suisse in 2000 as a vice president in the telecom group and was appointed managing director in 2004. He joined the Swiss bank from Jardine Fleming, where he worked from 1995 to 2000.
At Citi, Lambah will report to Pramit Jhaveri, head of investment banking for India.
"Ravi has been involved on several groundbreaking and complex transactions across the region. We look forward to Ravi playing a leading role in growing and further developing our Indian investment banking franchise," says Jhaveri.
Given his background, Lambah is expected to be a part of the coverage of transactions in the TMT sector û an area which is booming. Citi was advisor in 2006 to KKR on the Flextronics buyout, KKRÆs maiden deal in Asia. It is also one of the lead managers to the IPO of Genpact, IndiaÆs largest business process outsourcing company, which was filed recently with the SEC.
ôHowever, LambahÆs role will not be restricted to TMT,ö says a source close to the development. ôHe will play a role across sectors.ö
Competition for people in India is currently at an all-time high and investment banks beefing up in the country are facing a siege from the buy side for talent.
ôIn the last few months Citi itself has lost people in India to private equity firms such as 3i,ö comments a banker.
A number of global banks are moving Indians back to the country, both to fill gaps and to strengthen existing operations. This strategy serves dual objectives û for banks the familiarity of these people with the geography and the modus operandi means they hit the ground running, and for the people in question the opportunity to be a part of what is happening in India is compelling.
In March, HSBC's Tarun Kataria moved from Hong Kong to India to head investment banking for the country, following on from a move by Merrill Lynch to relocate Sumeet Puri to Mumbai, also from Hong Kong, as head of equity capital markets. Lehman has moved a number of people back to staff its India office including chairman and CEO for India, Tarun Jotwani, who returned to India from London.
Credit Suisse had no comment on Lambah's departure.
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