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From Citibank to Standard Chartered Bank and now as the head of Sabre Capital- a fund he spearheads, Rana Talwar’s appetite for M&A deals does not seem to be sated.

Being the first Asian to become group CEO of a multi- national bank (Stanchart 1998 and 2001) was by itself newsworthy enough, but it was his serial M& A deals in a conservative industry that got Talwar the headlines. After his exit from StanChart, Mr Talwar made a dramatic re-entry into banking by leading investors to acquire the troubled Centurion Bank.

Sabre took over the bank after big banks such as HDFC Bank and Citi decided to give it a pass viewing as a basket case. Talwar’s strategy was to first pump in funds through Sabre and brings in Bank Muscat as an investor by merging its one branch operation into the bank. A year later, he snapped up Bank of Punjab - another shaky bank - and within 12 months, took over the Lord Krishna Bank.

While these deals gave CBoP some mass, it was still not sizeable enough. CBoP began the year by initiating talks with IDFC for a merger, which had it gone through, would have got IDFC its much-coveted banking licence and CBop, a much juicier valuation. However, regulators had other plans. One of the main reasons behind the deal seems to be the logic that RBI is unlike to open up the industry in 2009. In that case, it would be better to be a pan of a bigger bank.

Talwar’s strength has been his ability to carry people along with him. Despite a talent crunch, he managed to draw a host of ex-Citibankers from across the globe. A look at the employee stock options would see that many of these officials received one of the most generous options in the industry. Investors who invested along with him at Rs 4 in Centurion Bank would have seen among the highest returns ever and an opportunity to hold a sizeable chunk of HDFC Bank.

For the son-in-law of India’s construction czar, KP Singh, money is not the issue. He will be 60 this year, but still travels 15 days a month. He is on the board of Schlumberger and Portis Bank. A keen golfer, many of his deals are discussed during the game. Unlike other private equity players, Talwar does not go around raising money and then looking for deals. He does the reverse. He already has a contact list of deep-pocket investors, which include institutions and rich families from the Middle East, Far East and Europe. He has already acquired a Nigerian bank and invested close to $1 billion. In Bahrain, he has raised another $500 million to re-capitalise a bank.

He is now working on a deal in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, which would call for merging two banks and require another $200-$300 million. This is even as he is looking at banks in Africa, Middle East and Africa. The market is keen awaiting his next-move in India.

Sabre, along with Temasek, has promoted Lotus Asset Management Company. One has to now look at whether he will be back to do any more banking deals in the country in the coming months.