News: Allegro Capital in alliance with Close Bros

(RTR 12/03/2007) Mumbai - Indian boutique investment bank Allegro Capital Advisors said on Monday it had signed an alliance with British investment bank Close Brothers Corporate Finance.

The deal would benefit Indian and international firms involved in cross-border deals, the two banks said in a joint statement, without disclosing financial details.

"We already have a number of cross-border acquisition mandates from Indian corporates which would benefit significantly from this alliance," Kunal Kashyap, chairman and chief executive of Allegro said.

"Close's focus on the mid-market corporate segment made it an ideal candidate for Allegro to partner with."

Bangalore-based Allegro, a corporate finance boutique, has 24 offices in India. Close Brothers has offices in 20 countries.

"Allegro's extensive relationships across large and mid-sized businesses in India makes it ideally suited to cement deals with mid-sized European organisations that we represent," said Richard Grainger, chief executive of Close Brothers.

"Already a number of our European offices have initiatives with Allegro and this is just the start of things to come."

Close Brothers had told Reuters last November it was looking to enter India via an alliance with a local boutique firm.