Naina Lal Kidwai joins realty NBFC Altico Capital's board

Kidwai will join as an independent non-executive director on the company's board

Altico Capital, a non-banking finance company (NBFC) promoted by Clearwater Capital, Abu Dhabi Investment Council and Varde Partners, has roped in banking veteran Naina Lal Kidwai as an independent non-executive director on its board.

Kidwai’s presence on Altico’s board is expected to help the company grow its business and boost its brand, said Sanjay Grewal, chief executive officer of Altico Capital. Altico, focused on real estate, is looking to invest about Rs 2,500 crore every year for five years in the Indian real estate market.

Kidwai stepped down as chairperson of British lender HSBC India last year after serving the bank for 13 years. Before joining HSBC, Kidwai was vice-chairperson and head, investment banking, at JPMorgan Stanley.

She has an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, Boston, Massachusetts. She is on the boards of Larsen & Toubro Limited, Advent Private Equity, Nestle SA, Cipla Limited, Max Financial Services Limited and chairperson of South Asia Harvard Business School.

Altico has seen deals totalling around $7 billion in the past year and has taken proposals of another $1 billion to its investment committee. It is expected to end up doing $350-400 million of deals every year.

Grewal earlier told Business Standard that the company would draw down Rs 450 crore from Washington-based IFC in the current year as equity capital and raise Rs 2,000 crore as debt in FY17. Altico has an equity capital base of Rs 2,000 crore.

Altico could also look at alternative fund structures in the future and was in talks with investors on this, he had said.