Deluge of deals to lift i-bank bonuses to a record in 2024

India's dealmakers may win record bonuses for 2024, after fetching the decade's highest fee income driven by share sales, mergers and debt funding rounds.

- Devina Sengupta & Sneha Shah

The fee pool at investment banks swelled in 2024 thanks to the large initial public offerings (IPOs) of companies such as Hyundai Motor India, Swiggy, Ola Electric and Firstcry. The year also saw large block deals in companies including ITC, Trent and Bharti Airtel, enabling PE investors to take some money off the table. Besides, key sectors such as industrials, consumer and financial services saw mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

According to Native, a search firm that also works with the financial services sector, bonuses may cross ₹1,000 crore in 2024, of which ₹700 crore may go to over 350 top executives. These include managing directors, partners and directors at global and domestic investment banks earning an average fixed salary of ₹1.5-2.5 crore. While some banks may pay bonuses in the range of ₹100-150%, at some others, it may be 300-350%, industry experts said.

"This year has been phenomenal from the deals perspective, and incomes have been commensurate. We are expecting bonuses ranging between 300-375% this year," an investment banker said on the condition of anonymity.