JPMorgan hires Credit Suisse banker for India

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MUMBAI, June 27 (Reuters) - U.S. bank JPMorgan (JPM.N) has stepped up hiring its boost its investment banking team in India, by recruiting bankers from Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and ICICI (ICBK.BO) Securities, a company memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed.

Ranjit Lakhanpal of Credit Suisse, who had also worked for Goldman Sachs (GS.N), would join as managing director of corporate finance, in a market where companies are thirsty for global acquisitions and raising funds for expansion.

Mehul Savla of ICICI Securities would join as an executive director in the equity capital markets division, the memo said.

Global banks such as Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Lehman Brothers LEH.N have been hiring aggressively to tap ballooning fund-raising and mergers and acquisitions advisory businesses in Asia's third-largest economy.

Mergers and acquisitions in India are set to touch a new high this year after multi-billion dollar deals such as Vodafone Group Plc's (VOD.L) purchase of unlisted Hutchison Essar Ltd. and Hindalco Industries Ltd. (HALC.BO) acquisition of Canada's Novelis Inc. NVL.TO.

Outbound M&A from India surged last year to $23.1 billion from $4.47 billion in 2005, with a breakthrough $12 billion of Tata Steel Ltd. (TISC.BO) deal to buy Corus Group Plc, according to data provider Dealogic.

Local share sales are also set to reach an all-time high this year after real estate firm DLF Ltd.'s $2.25 billion and ICICI's $4.9 billion recent share sale, in which JPMorgan was a lead manager along with Merrill Lynch MER.N and Goldman.

JPMorgan, which has hired more than 10 analysts in the last couple of months, has also moved its London-based Cyrus Mehta to Mumbai as executive director to build high-yield and leveraged finance business.

((Reporting by M.C. Govardhana Rangan, editing by John Mair and Ranjit Gangadharan; e-mail:govardhana.rangan@reuters.com; +91-22-6636 9246)) Keywords: JPMORGAN INDIA/ Keywords: JPMORGAN INDIA/

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