Sami Khan rejoins Rabobank as partner

Sami Khan has joined Rabo Equity Advisors, an India-focused private equity fund sponsored by Rabobank.

Former Rabobank executive Sami Khan has rejoined the Dutch bank as an operating partner with its India-focused private equity fund after stints with Accenture and Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Khan confirmed to Agri Investor that he joined Rabo Equity Advisors in its New Dehli office in November and will be reporting to chairman and managing director Rajesh Srivastava.

He will be working on investments from Rabo Equity’s India Agri Business Fund II, which closed on $150 million in November, focusing on upstream investments, precision agriculture and nutraceuticals.

“There are significant opportunities to be exploited in the technology-enabled agriculture space and in the potential of farm mechanization,” he said. “Another area that holds promise is the upstream procurement backed by executable corporate contract farming structures.”

After earlier positions with Citibank in Singapore and as director at Agro Biochem in India, Khan served three years as Rabobank’s regional head for food and agribusiness in Southeast Asia. Subsequently, he went on to work for almost five years as senior director for biotropics at Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. Before rejoining Rabobank in November, Khan also held positions with Paro Holdings in Malaysia, Accenture and Citadel Agri Ventures.

Rabo Equity’s India Agri Business Fund II will look to make average investments of $15 million for minority investments in 10 to 12 companies throughout the value chain, with an expectation of an at least 20 percent net IRR, Srivastava told Agri Investor after the fund close. The fund has committed capital for minority stakes in Cremica Food Industries, a supplier of food service ingredients and Parijat Industries, an agrochemical company.