Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. BAM-T has named Anuj Ranjan chief executive officer of its US$139-billion private equity business, as long-time head Cyrus Madon moves to an executive chair role, handing off leadership duties he has held for most of the past two decades.
Mr. Ranjan, 45, officially took charge as CEO Thursday, after nearly two years as president of the unit. He is now the day-to-day leader of the asset manager’s private equity portfolio, which includes its publicly listed unit, Brookfield Business Partners L.P.
He joined Brookfield in 2006, the same year Mr. Madon was named CEO of the private equity arm, a business he co-founded in 2001. Since then, Mr. Madon has been a central figure in private equity in Canada and abroad, building Brookfield’s division into a global heavyweight.
On Mr. Madon’s watch, Brookfield’s private equity business has raised and mostly invested five cornerstone funds since 2001. Four of the five generated net internal rates of return (IRR) of 15 per cent or more; the fourth, which made its first investments in 2015, generated an IRR of 46 per cent.
Mr. Madon, 58, said he will stay “fully active” in the business as executive chair. He will still sit on its investment committee and remain an executive officer of Brookfield Business Partners. And he will lead the unit’s board of directors, as current chair Jeffrey Blidner relinquishes that role but stays on as a director.
After more than 17 years as CEO, however, Mr. Madon’s new role sets in motion a planned succession, as Mr. Ranjan steps forward with a mandate to chart what Brookfield called “the next phase of growth for our business” in a letter to shareholders.
“Anuj and I have worked together for nearly 20 years,” Mr. Madon told analysts Friday. “He’s been instrumental in many of Brookfield’s activities over that time.”
The private equity arm of Brookfield is flush with capital to invest after recently raising US$12-billion for its latest flagship fund and largest to date, Brookfield Capital Partners VI, at a time when fundraising has been a steep challenge for the sector.
“Some of our best investments have been made during periods where capital is scarce and competition for assets and businesses is typically reduced,” Mr. Ranjan and Mr. Madon said in the shareholder letter.
On Thursday, Brookfield Business Partners reported a full-year profit of US$1.4-billion, or US$6.57 per unit, in 2023.
Mr. Ranjan told investors that Brookfield is setting up some of its larger portfolio companies for sale. Executives said Brookfield may look to sell US$750-million to US$1-billion of shares in Clarios International Inc., a car battery manufacturer, in an initial public offering this year if the market for such share sales is open. The company abandoned a US$1.8-billion IPO offering for Clarios in 2021.
James Bradshaw