Defense Industry M&A Advisors

Gaurav Asthana is the Managing Partner at Transjovan Capital and brings more than 21 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions and private equity. An ex-Ernst & Young and KPMG professional, he is widely recognized for cross-border M&A execution across four continents. He has advised Fortune 500 corporations, large conglomerates, and private equity funds on cumulative transactions worth USD 15 billion. His experience includes retained buy-side mandates for globally recognized enterprises such as Blackstone, Mahindra, Legrand, Altana, Sumitomo, and Cummins. Under his leadership, the firm earned recognition as the Best M&A Advisory Firm in India. He also serves in prominent industry bodies including the Indo-American, Indo-French, and Indo-German Chambers of Commerce, reflecting his strong global business network.

Deoki Muchhal is a strategist and advisor with extensive leadership experience across large multinational organizations. Having served as MD and CFO at Cargill India, he has led acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and technology transformation initiatives designed to unlock long-term enterprise value. His background includes board-level exposure, corporate restructuring, turnaround strategy, and successful merger integration. Deoki brings a practical operator's perspective to strategic advisory, helping clients align financial, operational, and transformation priorities. He also has a strong interest in ventures that improve competitiveness through digital technologies. A meritorious Chartered Accountant and alumnus of a Fortune 50 high-performance leadership academy, he adds seasoned financial and strategic judgment to complex growth and transaction mandates.

Rajesh Relan brings 37 years of experience, including 25 years in senior leadership roles across the insurance industry in India and the Asia Pacific region. He previously served as Managing Director of PNB MetLife India Insurance and has deep expertise in strategy, governance, financial planning, business transformation, and M&A. His career includes launching and scaling businesses, leading turnarounds, and executing acquisitions, including the purchase of an insurance broking company. Rajesh also serves as an independent director on boards of publicly listed companies, including Singer India Ltd. and Jaykay Enterprises. His involvement with industry bodies such as CII, FICCI, Amcham, and USIBC reflects broad market engagement. He contributes seasoned boardroom insight to strategic growth and transaction advisory assignments.

Anuraag Guptaa has 27 years of experience in IT services spanning BFSI, consulting, professional services, and BPO. He has held CEO and board-level roles at organizations including First Meridian, Quess Corp, Capgemini, and Gulf Bank. At Quess Corp, he helped build India's largest technology staffing firm, culminating in a 2016 IPO at a valuation of USD 2 billion. His strengths include operational transformation, P&L leadership, greenfield venture incubation, organizational restructuring, and navigating complex M&A environments. Anuraag also mentors and invests in niche startups, bringing a growth-oriented perspective to advisory work. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and holds an MBA from LSE, NYU Stern, and HEC Paris, along with Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification from GE.

Nupur Mandal is a Senior Vice President at the firm and plays a key role in mandate development and transaction execution across cross-border M&A and growth capital engagements. She brings more than 17 years of experience across investment banking, M&A advisory, corporate finance, and strategy. Nupur works closely with promoters and management teams to structure and execute strategic transactions aligned with long-term business objectives. Her transaction experience includes advising on cross-border M&A deals ranging from USD 100 million to USD 1 billion, along with growth capital raises exceeding USD 10 million. While she has worked across multiple sectors, her experience is especially strong in Industrials, Manufacturing, Consumer, B2B Services, Semiconductor & Electronics, and Battery Manufacturing. Known for her balanced judgment and stakeholder management capabilities, she focuses on strategic fit, business fundamentals, synergies, and long-term value creation in every engagement.

Atishay Jain brings more than 16 years of experience with deep expertise in the renewable energy industry in India. He has led strategy and M&A engagements for leading organizations such as Fortum and CRISIL and has worked extensively with investors and independent power producers in the clean energy sector. His experience spans partnerships, transaction execution, deal management, and strategic investment initiatives across the renewables ecosystem. In his previous role, he served as Head - Investments & Strategy for a major European utility, where he focused on growth and investment opportunities in the energy sector. Atishay combines strong transaction experience with sector-specific strategic insight, making him a valuable advisor for clean energy and infrastructure-related mandates.

Ananya Ranka is an Associate Vice President at the firm with over 6 years of experience across corporate strategy, equity funding, and mergers and acquisitions. His background includes working with Ernst & Young in the Valuation and Business Modelling team, where he gained experience in financial analysis, valuation frameworks, and transaction support. He has also worked in market research with Ken Research, contributing to strategic business insights and industry analysis. Ananya is currently pursuing the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program and has completed specialized courses in business modelling and valuations. He holds a degree in Economics Honours from the University of Delhi.

Avya Malik is an Associate Vice President - Client Relations at the firm and has been associated with the organization for more than 4 years. He has worked on multiple strategy and M&A consulting engagements, supporting clients with market entry strategy, commercial due diligence, competitive analysis, and market sizing initiatives across sectors. His experience includes helping businesses evaluate expansion opportunities and navigate complex strategic decisions through research-driven insights. Avya holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance and Business Economics from UNSW Sydney. His blend of academic grounding and practical consulting experience enables him to approach complex market and transaction challenges with a structured and analytical perspective.

Chetan Tolia brings more than 30 years of leadership experience across major industrial organizations. He has served as a director on the boards of 10 Tata companies and was CEO and Executive Director of WREPL, a Tata Power company in the renewables business. His background also includes serving as Chief HR Officer of Tata Power, CEO of Tata BlueScope Steel Limited, and head of Strategy & Planning at Tata Steel. He played a key role in forming the BlueScope Steel and Tata Steel joint venture and in shaping growth strategy for large industrial businesses. With deep exposure to strategy, joint ventures, board governance, and industrial operations, Chetan adds valuable manufacturing and infrastructure insight to enterprise advisory engagements.

Shanti Priya leads the marketing function at the firm and brings more than 7 years of experience in marketing strategy, brand communication, and positioning. Her expertise lies in developing effective marketing communication frameworks and building strong brand narratives aligned with business growth objectives. Before joining the firm, she led the marketing specialization for a US-focused SaaS company, where she worked on digital growth and strategic brand initiatives. Shanti has a multidisciplinary academic background, including a degree in Computer Science Engineering from Cummins College of Engineering, Pune University, an M.Tech from IIIT Pune, a PGDM from the University of Madras, and a specialization in Digital Marketing from MICA. Her combination of technical and marketing expertise enables her to drive strategic brand and communication initiatives effectively.