The Hindu Business Line : Change of guard at SKS Micro

Mr Suresh Gurumani from Barclays Bank has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SKS Microfinance. The development follows the decision of Dr Vikram Akula, Founder of SKS, to transition from the CEO role to a full-time Director on the board as of December 2008.

In an announcement on Wednesday, SKS Microfinance said Mr Gurumani is a banking veteran and has had significant stints with leading banks like Standard Chartered and Barclays with special focus on SME banking.

In the new role, Dr Akula would focus on steering the future strategy of the company. New strategic initiatives include enhancing its product portfolio to have a wider range of financial services such as insurance, education and consumer loans as well as developing innovative technologies to reduce costs SKS Microfinance received Rs 366-crore private equity funding from Boston-based Sandstone Capital, Kismet Capital and SVB India Partners recently. The total equity of SKS, after four rounds of investments stood at Rs 650 crore.

Answering questions, Dr Akula said the Rs 366- crore equity funding was totally new issue of shares and not a sale of existing equity. "I continue to have a significant equity in the company and I will spend full time as Director in shaping the strategy and future direction". "The CEO succession plan was put in place a year ago and we wanted to bring in a seasoned banker as SKS Microfinance has become a large banking organisation now," he told Business Line. - Our Bureau

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