Kotak Mahindra Bank taps Egon Zehnder for CEO search

Uday Kotak has been the bank’s CEO from its founding in 1985 as a non-banking financial company.

According to persons familiar with the matter, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.’s board has hired consulting firm Egon Zehnder to oversee a worldwide search for a CEO to succeed its billionaire founder Uday Kotak.

According to sources, group presidents and full-time directors Shanti Ekambaram and KVS Manian are internal contenders for the top role. The board is broadening its hunt to identify acceptable external candidates, they added, declining to be named because they were sharing sensitive information.

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A spokesman for Kotak Mahindra Bank refused to comment, while an Egon Zehnder official did not immediately reply to calls for comment.

Uday Kotak has been the bank’s CEO since its founding in 1985 as a non-banking financial company. In 2003, it became a commercial lender. As of the end of 2022, Kotak Mahindra Bank has 1,752 branches in India. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Uday Kotak has a net worth of around $13.4 billion.

Because central bank regulations limit the tenure of Indian corporate leaders, the billionaire banker will resign as CEO by the end of next year.In an interview in November, Manian said that his son, Jay Kotak, is not a candidate for CEO.

Ekambaram joined Kotak Mahindra Bank in 1991 and is currently the bank’s highest-ranking female executive. According to the bank’s website, she is in charge of numerous operations, including the online savings account business, treasury, public relations, and human resources. She is still in charge of the company’s consumer banking. Manian, who joined the group management council in 1995, is in charge of wholesale banking and wealth management. He is also in charge of the investment bank and institutional equity divisions.

Kotak Bank, like its rivals, has ambitious development ambitions to capitalise on the possibilities created by the Indian economy’s rise, even as it grapples with the disruptions brought about by technology to traditional banking practices.

Due to high loan demand in India, the bank’s net income increased by 31% in the quarter ended December to 27.9 billion rupees ($337 million). According to Bloomberg News, it is also considering a minority stake sale in its general insurance business. This month, it bought Sonata Financial Pvt. Ltd., a microfinance firm.