MAM
Yahoo! India announces strategic appointments
MUMBAI: After a profitable 2004, Yahoo! India has announced some strategic appointments, the first being of Vishal Maheshwari, who will head Yahoo! India Mobile.
Yahoo! India country manager Neville Taraporewalla also announced two new positions to lend strategic direction to Yahoo! India search and online media sales. Rishi Behal was promoted as director-strategic alliances and search, while Pearl Uppal will head the national sales function of Yahoo! India as sales director.
Announcing the new appointments, Taraporewalla said, “Yahoo! India has seen an aggressive growth rate in the last couple of years and this goes beyond just increase in online advertising revenues. Our mobile content business is also on the rise besides we see a great potential in the search business. The new appointments signify our continued investment in people, resources and technology in India and also throws light on Yahoo’s trust in local talent to power its business. The most crucial resource for Yahoo! is its people.”
Maheshwari, who has been appointed to provide renewed strategic direction to the mobile business, was formerly head of customer asset management at BPL Mobile Communications and will now use his expertise across various sectors like Telecom, Financial Services and FMCG industry to strengthen Yahoo! India’s Mobile business. He will report to Taraporewalla.
Seeing the growing potential of the search business in India, Behal, formerly regional manager- sales has been promoted to head the strategic alliances and search function for Yahoo! India. In his new position, Behal will be responsible for adapting search for Y! India and plan its road map for success in India like in many other countries. He would also specifically work with Yahoo! India’s long term alliance partners to ensure better strategic relationships as well as bringing in larger relationships in the field of health, travel and gaming besides other areas.
Uppal, on the other hand, will now spearhead the national sales function of the company as sales director and will be responsible for increasing the online advertising client base of Yahoo! India and maintaining Yahoo! India’s leadership space in the domain. Uppal will head the sales business unit which includes sales production and ad operations.
Both Behal and Uppal will report to Taraporewalla.
Brands
Oyo parent Prism appoints former Sebi chief Ajay Tyagi to Board
Former market regulator joins Prism to strengthen governance for IPO
NEW DELHI: Prism, the parent entity of Oyo, has appointed former Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi as an independent director, as the hospitality firm gears up for its planned Rs 6,650 crore initial public offering (IPO).
Tyagi, a 1984-batch IAS officer, served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) from 2017 to 2022. His appointment is aimed at strengthening the company’s governance framework and providing strategic oversight as it moves closer to a public listing.
He joins a high-profile board that already includes several prominent names from global business and policy circles. These include Troy Matthew Alstead, former CFO and group president of Starbucks; Aditya Ghosh, co-founder of Akasa Air; Deepa Malik, paralympic athlete and Padma Shri awardee; William Steve Albrecht, professor of accountancy at Utah State University; and Bejul Somaia, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Prism founder Ritesh Agarwal, said Tyagi’s experience in capital markets regulation and public-institution stewardship will be critical as the company scales operations and enhances long-term accountability.
The company recently filed preliminary papers with Sebi to raise Rs 6,650 crore through a confidential route. Market sources estimate its valuation will be in the range of $7 billion to $8 billion.
Over the course of his career, Tyagi has held senior roles in the ministry of finance, where he oversaw investment policy and financial-sector reforms. His induction to the Prism board signals a renewed focus on aligning the company’s internal standards with the stringent requirements of public markets as it advances toward its IPO.
