IPO boom prompts ICICI Bank to hire more investment bankers

ICICI Bank Ltd. is making its biggest hiring push in investment banking and institutional equities in 4 years, as it anticipates a rise in companies going public.

According to Ajay Saraf, Head, Investment Banking and Institutional Equities, ICICI Securities Ltd., the lender plans to add 5 mid-to-senior level hires in each of the 2 units, which currently have 130 bankers in total. The new roles will be concentrated in sectors such as technology and health care.

“We have not hired these kinds of numbers since 2017. We see investor interest disproportionately higher for these sectors in the next 12 months,” Saraf said.

Saraf expects there to be more deals to go around as high-quality firms come to market in the next 3 to 6 months.

He said, “The deal activity on the primary market will be stronger than 2021. The number of transactions will be widespread but the rise in volume will depend on the issuers’ decisions on the size.”