# Citadel Management Consulting

> Boutique investment banking firm for the life sciences industry, founded in March 2009 and headquartered in Hyderabad, India, with a presence in Singapore. Citadel advises on M&A, growth fundraising, platform creation, stake sales, structured transactions and defence strategies for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and is among the few mid-market advisory firms in India with a proprietary investment arm. Philosophy: "Investor by mind, Entrepreneur by heart."

## Firm facts

- Founded: 2009, by Vijay Datt (formerly Goldman Sachs Asset Management, North America; GE Financial Analytics; American CPA)
- Focus sectors: Pharma & Healthcare, Food & Agriculture, Branded Consumer
- Aggregate advised value: US$ 1 billion+
- Transactions closed: 25+
- Offices: Suite 806, Park Hyatt Hyderabad, Road No. 2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, Telangana 500034, India; Asia Square Tower 2, Singapore (by appointment)
- Email: support@citadelgroup.in
- Phone: +91 99899 11173, +91 99599 11022
- Website: [citadelgroup.in](https://citadelgroup.in/)

## Live mandate pipeline (~US$ 1 billion)

- US$ 250M majority stake sale in a branded domestic formulations player focused on super-specialty chronic segments
- US$ 200M majority investment in a US vertically integrated specialty pharma company (finished dosage formulations and APIs)
- US$ 150M majority investment in a US specialty CDMO (Phase I-III and commercial APIs, forward-integrating into finished dosage forms)
- US$ 200M majority stake in a leading full-service small-molecule API CDMO headquartered in Europe

## Selected transactions (advisory)

- [Viyash Life Sciences](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 300M integrated specialty pharma platform, jointly conceptualised with Carlyle, 2021
- [Acme Formulations](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 160M majority stake acquired by PAG Asia, 2021
- [Celon Laboratories](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 70M 100% sale to ZNZ Pharma (CDC, DPI, EBRD backed), 2020
- [Rising Pharma, USA](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 50M specialty generics M&A, 2019
- [Tirupati Group](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 50M fundraise from Affirma / Standard Chartered PE, 2019
- [Celon Labs Series A](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 22M from Sequoia Capital, 2010
- [La Renon Healthcare](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 16.5M from Sequoia Capital, 2015
- [Bayir Group](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 15M from Rabo Equity, 2014
- [Alniche Life Sciences](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 15M from India Life Sciences Fund II, 2018
- [Sri Biotech](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 10M from Rabo Equity, 2009 (exited to Valagro, 2015)
- [Brinton Healthcare](https://citadelgroup.in/#transactions): US$ 5M from Tata Capital Healthcare, 2017

## Proprietary investments

- Clonz Biotech: monoclonal antibody biosimilars, incorporated 2009, exited via strategic sale to Sri Krishna Pharma
- Veda Seed Sciences: agri-biotech, 2014, NATCO Pharma holds a minority stake
- Citaderm Pharma: specialty dermatology, 2019
- MoEVing: electric vehicle platform, 2021
- Aavishkar Thin Strips: oral thin films, 2021
- Biryani By Kilo: F&B / QSR, later backed by an Alpha Wave-led round
- MediSage: pharma-tech knowledge platform, 2021
- InternShala: Ed-tech pre-Series A 2022, India's college career super app
- High Street Essentials (FabAlley, House of Indya): premium women's fashion D2C, bridge 2022

## People

- [Vijay Datt](https://citadelgroup.in/#people): Founder & Managing Director. Over 20 years advising life-science companies; previously Senior Relationship Manager at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, North America. vijay.datt@citadelgroup.in, +91 99899 11173. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijaydatt/)
- Krishna Kishore Ponnapalli: Executive Director. 17+ years in financial services and private equity; 20+ due diligences; board member of Tirupati Medicare, Swop Engineering and Veda Seed Sciences; formerly Capgemini; CFA Level 2. krishna.kishore@citadelgroup.in, +91 90300 05541.
- Harshal Pathak: Senior Associate. 5+ years of M&A deal advisory (financial due diligence) across 30+ transactions; MBA (Indian School of Business), Chartered Accountant. harshal.pathak@citadelgroup.in, +91 98700 01383.

## Pages

- [Home](https://citadelgroup.in/): firm overview, advisory capabilities, deal ledger, proprietary capital, people, contact