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Nov 8, 1999
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SPECIAL SERIES Uday
Kodak, 40
Vice-Chairman, Kotak Mahindra
M&A (Hons)
You could hear the yuppies snigger: Uday Kotak has lost it, the
man's so crazy about cost-cutting that he has cut back on his employees' coffee. These
days, he's smiling -- though some would say it's as forced as his exposure is wide. Kotak
Mahindra Finance clocks a net worth of Rs 800 crore and because of quick measures it has
survived industry-wide panic. He's hung on despite barbs and the sound of businesses
crashing all around him. Many finance firms pulled out of merchant banking, others out of
leasing, some simply collapsed.Kotak re-engineered his firm, stuck to investment banking
and mergers and acquisitions, the two shows that are going to keep this indefatigable
networker in the game and in the news. He's a master at getting two people to talk, then
talk business: the first step to M&A heaven. Meanwhile, he's taken a few risks on
gilt-funds and the Internet. "Yes, we run the risk of failing on some ideas,"
says Kotak. "But if we can't keep generating ideas we won't have any business."
-V. Shankar Aiyar |
