By Baiju Kalesh and Manuel Baigorri
Three senior bankers at India’s Raine Group, including the country head, are about to leave the boutique adviser to set up a new investment banking firm, according to people familiar with the matter.
Gaurav Mehta, a partner and head of Raine in India, and directors Naveen Asopa and Girish Punjabi are leaving the company, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Before joining Raine in 2017, Mehta led India Investment Banking at UBS Group AG. He also worked at Morgan Stanley and HSBC Holdings Plc, according to his LinkedIn profile. Punjabi joined Raine in Mumbai after stints at UBS and PwC. Asopa previously worked at Morgan Stanley and PwC.
Raine co-founder Jeff Sine now leads the Mumbai office and is building the team to advance a significant slate of deals, Raine spokesman Dan Gagnier said in response to a question from Bloomberg News. He declined to comment on individual personnel matters as a matter of policy.
“Over the past year, we have been actively structuring our operations in India to support the speed of cross-border transactions that align with our multi-office, team-based approach,” Gagnier said, adding that the firm continues to see significant opportunities for its advisory and investment mandates in the region.
Raine provides advisory services including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and raising private capital. The New York-based firm also manages growth capital and venture capital strategies, with more than $3.1 billion in assets under management.
Raine’s most significant deals in India include the $8.5 billion joint venture between The Walt Disney Co. and Reliance Industries Ltd., which combined their respective digital streaming and television assets in the country in 2024.
The boutique consultant has worked internationally on sporting deals, such as the England & Wales Cricket Board’s private investment in the eight teams in The Hundred, the short-form tournament that attracts younger and more family-oriented fans. It has also worked on transactions related to the Indian Premier League cricket franchises.
India’s initial share sale market is off to a slow start in 2026 after two consecutive years of record fundraising. M&A activity is also subdued, with the number of deals down more than 60% from the same period a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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