Buzz: All not well between this CEO & PE owners | Economic Times

ET’s weekly roundup of the wackiest whispers and murmurs in corporate corridors & policy parlours:Wrong ApplicationWhen the names of those who have applied to the regulator for new bank licences emerged recently, folks at India’s largest foreign bank were amused to see the name of one of their senior ex-colleagues who spent several years in India as an applicant. They still recall the several run-ins this former colleague had with the central bank. But what got tongues wagging at this organisation — also in the news for a global recast — is the word that another very senior executive still working at the institution in India had apparently been a co-applicant until the two had a massive falling out and parted ways.Island JauntCovid seems to have come in the way of this leading billionaire family, which just bought a trophy real estate property. With several countries restricting the entry of Indians after the second wave, a little bird tells us they might just have to take a detour to the Maldives and bide their time. A whole island has been booked for the holding period before they jet to Europe, where they have been spending a lot of time in any case. Honestly, if we had the means, we too would not mind the aquamarine waters and coral reefs.Ctrl+Alt+DelFor a while we have been hearing that the relationship between the PE owners and this high-flying chief executive, with a rather unusual nickname, in one of their portfolio companies has soured considerably. The fund had only just got him to turn things around within a year of the acquisition. Matters apparently became worse when the financial sponsor launched a strategic move through the stock market route recently. The executive, a little birdie tells us, had his own plans, which his bosses thought was nothing less than sabotage. It seems they have had enough and now a search to replace him has been launched. Will it be a bitter logout at the top or is this the makeover that everyone has been talking about ahead of the much-speculated but inevitable corporate action?Home TruthsWe all know that a large part of this global bank is up for grabs. Several suitors are queuing up to evaluate this $2 billion-plus opportunity. Names of several more are being speculated upon. We reliably learn that a financial services septuagenarian is also sniffing around to see if he could carve out the mortgage assets for his company even if that would pit him directly against the group’s banking affiliate. The relationship between both these premier organisations has been fraught for a while now. We wonder how the new leadership of the banking affiliate and its institutional shareholders will react to this.Show Your MettleIt’s one of those legacy joint ventures that had the blessings of none other than the father of the nation, who brought together two of the most respected business families of pre-Independent India. Yet today it is the smallest group company, hamstrung by high debt, bad business calls and a seemingly uninterested partner who would rather attend Davos than turn the business around. We hear the gen next of one of the families — supremely successful in their own right — has had enough. A massive restructuring is ongoing to take out the high-cost loans, rejig alliances and business operations. But they have also put their foot down — their family will buy the residual stake from the other. After all, if they stand as guarantors to give confidence to the banks, then they should have their way. Point taken. Strange Mutations?There is no escaping this scourge even if you seek refuge in the sunny beaches of Goa, that almost has become the desi Hamptons along with Alibaug since last year when the pandemic struck first. Ask this former media honcho, now much disgraced. Just when he thought people will get to know his life’s saga with all its sordid twists and turns through his memoirs, he has tested positive. Ironically though so has his controversial former wife who has been under constant surveillance for a long time now. Coincidence or shall we say some bonds are for ever!