Carlyle is said to search for new managing director in India

Carlyle Group Inc. has kicked off its search for a new senior manager in India, where the private equity firm has invested about $2.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The buyout firm is working with headhunting company Egon Zehnder to look for a new managing director who could lead or co-lead its business in India, the people said. Vikram Nirula, who joined in 2018 as managing director, will soon be leaving the company, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

A representative for Carlyle declined to comment, while Nirula and a representative for Egon Zehnder didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Carlyle, which opened its Mumbai office in 2005, made its first investment in India a year later and has since backed 22 local companies, according to its website. Metropolis Healthcare Ltd., PNB Housing Finance Ltd. and SBI Life Insurance Co. are among companies that it is still invested in. Last month, the private equity firm sold a 10% stake in SBI Cards & Payment Services Ltd. through an initial public offering. Carlyle still holds 16% in the country’s second-largest card issuer.

Nirula and Neeraj Bharadwaj are Carlyle’s two managing directors in India. Bharadwaj joined the firm in 2012 after working at Accel Partners and Apax Partners. Nirula spent 18 years at True North Managers, a local private equity firm that he helped found, before he took up the job at Carlyle in 2018.