GLOBAL STRATEGY &

INVESTMENT CONSULTING
g s i c A Pl anman Consult ing Init iat ive

New Del hi • New Yor k • London • Singapore

 Mission Statement

Noted Economist, Management Guru,

Eminent Author and Entrepreneur

Arindam Chaudhuri, MD, Planman Consulting

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IIPM
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management is the largest and one of the pre-
mier business schools in India. IIPM was established in 1973 by Dr. M.K Chaudhuri
who took over as research professor and director after resigning from professorship
with The Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. It has been ranked amongst
the top-10 business schools in India by B-school surveys publications and has been
awarded the status of being the UNDP key partner institution in India. IIPM has
seven campuses and approximately 6500 students across the country.

IIPM has so far claimed superiority of its entrepreneurship program primarily

through its qualitatively advanced and intellectually stimulating academic curricu-
lum. It is associated with IMI Belgium and professors from various Ivy League
schools like Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School of Management, Columbia
GSB, Chicago GSB,Yale School of Management, London School of Economics and
Kellogg School of Management participate in faculty exchange programs which
include subject tutorials and executive development programs conducted by IIPM.

IIPM currently has five journals that are in circulation: 4Ps Business & Marketing ,
The Human Factor, Need the Dough, Strategic Innovators and the India Economic
Review. These journals aim to integrate academia and industry to create intellectual
capital and thereby, contribute towards the economy by creating quality leaders,
entrepreneurs and managers.

Every year many leading organizations and institutions around the world support
IIPM’s MBA students for undertaking projects and research assignments. Many
companies have held interactive sessions with our students during their study tour.
The program has received positive responses and encouragement from various orga-
nizations across Europe, Asia and United States.

GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING 3

 Planman Consulting
Planman Consulting (www.planmanconsulting.com) is india’s largest multi-interest
consulting and business services corporation engaged in diverse industry verticals.
Planman’s strength lies in its roots - the Indian Institute of Planning and Manage-
ment which in 2005 was rated as the largest busines school in the world by the
financial times in terms of students, faculty members, geographical locations and
ongoing consulting assignments. Planman consulting is currently based out of eight
Indian cities and four off-shore locations.

Since its inception in 1996, Planman has always strived to deliver distinctive, substan-
tial and lasting advantages to its clients and stakeholders through innovation and cus-
tomer centric solutions. Leveraging the huge network of IIPM’s faculty base Plan-
man had been engaged in various consulting engagements in the areas of Human
Resources, Marketing, Technology, Finance and Strategy. It goes beyond saying that
Planman’s strength has always been its people. Their accumulated knowledge base
and expertise in diverse fields has enabled Planman to provide strategic support to its
clients, which include a number of Fortune 500 companies. Planman has earned the
credential of being the most preferred business partner with most of its clients.

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 Global Strategy &
Investment Consulting

Global Strategy and Investment Consulting is the global consulting and services arm
of Planman Consulting focusing primarily on strategic consulting, business and mar-
ket intelligence and investment research services. GSIC also partners with companies
to raise funds, forge strategic alliances, private equity deals and entry strategies. Over
the past two years, GSIC has been working across markets (Europe, USA, South
East Asia and Middle East), asset classes and industry verticals. On one hand, GSIC
has been retained by clients to service their investment and business related research
needs while on the other, it has been engaged by clients to partner with them as a
strategic consultant. GSIC is uniquely qualified to transform raw information into
knowledge tailored to management’s needs. We aim to address the business require-
ments of our clients and assist them in adding value to their internal research teams.

GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING 5

 Our Services
STRATEGIC CONSULTING
GSIC’s activities span the entire value chain of investment research which includes
financial and business advisory services. We have the resources and expertise to
deliver end-to end solutions to our customers. GSIC helps you pinpoint what you
need to know, execute what you need to do, and liaison with whom you need to
meet in order to successfully establish your company or the launch of your product
in any global market.

BUSINESS & MARKET ANALYSIS

GSIC is uniquely qualified to transform raw information into knowledge tailored
to management’s needs and offers customized and cost-effective business research,
market research, data and financial analytics services across different industry verticals
(finance, media, technology, healthcare, legal, consumer markets, etc.) and services
multiple geographies. We aim to address the unique business requirements of our
clients and assist them in adding value to their internal research teams.

INVESTMENT RESEARCH
GSIC offers the world’s leading investment banks, financial institutions
and  intermediaries an array of financial research support services ranging
from  investment research to equity valuation, using both quantitative and qualitative
modeling techniques. Our expertise also lies in providing analytical and consulting
services for islamic finance. We work closely with our clients providing customized
financial research   which helps them to enhance their business decisions.

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Strategic Consulting
I. FINANCIAL ADVISORY

Private Equity Investment Services

Deal Origination: GSIC through its strong networks and wide reach is able to
source exclusive deals for its private equity clients.These deals are closely scrutinized
and selected by GSIC keeping in mind our client’s investment philosophy, risk-
taking capacity and expected return on investment.

Initial Proposal Screening: GSIC assist entreprenuers in various companies with

initial prposal screening in order to map the investment philosophy of the client with
the business proposition after a preliminary analysis of the business model. GSIC
engages research analysts to scan the proposal and present a review with an executive
summary to the client assisting him to opine on the initial acceptance of the business
proposition thereby saving significant costs. The report may entail facts which are
case-specific like a Company Snapshot (Profiling, Fact sheet, Major Happenings
& Events, Products & Services) and Financial Highlights (Revenue Segmentation,
Profitability, Total Assets).

Preliminary Industry Analysis:This vertical entails an exhausting industry analysis

to understand the business environment of the proposed investment. GSIC will
engage professionals to execute this feasibility study following an industry specific
layout. Reputed Industry Experts may be involved in the assignment wherever the
need be to understand the significant nuances of the business environment like
nature and size of the industry, growth drivers, recent trends, competitive landscape,
business environment (current deals, reforms and existing regulations, entry and exit
strategies), key challenges (with respect to procedural and legal vulnerability, title
clearances, risks), market segmentation and the market potential.

In-Depth Analysis: An in-depth analysis of business and revenue model of the

target investment is conducted here. Basic financial statement with forecasted cash
flows and revenues asre also presented. GSIC engages a team of highly qualified
professionals and experts to execute the assignment. GSIC will present to the client

GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING 7

 an informed business plan and a comprehensive report addressing the commercial
viability of the company’s products or services, potential for sustained growth by the
company, ability of the management to lead the company through the growth phases,
risk-reward feasibility, mapping the expected return to the investment criteria. This
vertical includes two primary phases: business plan & modeling and financial and
operational due-diligence. GSIC enables the client to determine whether the target
makes business sense. It provides an opportunity to the client to evaluate the target’s
current economic viability, future prospects and the capital demands required to
realize the deals goals.

Deal-Making: GSIC acts as a representative partner to the client providing deal

closure services like negotiation/bid support, deal structuring and deal validation &
paper work. This includes optimizing the deal structure taking into account legal,
financial, international tax considerations and exit strategies.

II. BUSINESS ADVISORY

Market Entry Strategic Services: GSIC provides specialized services for off-
shore market entry and India specific market entry like registration assistance with
SEBI (India Specific), initial proposal screening, preliminary industry analysis, in-
depth analysis and deal-making.

Strategic Alliances: We assist our clients in identifying potential acquisition targets

and creating strategic alliances when venturing into new markets. Based on carefully
defined fundamental models supported by technical interpretations, GSIC is able to
gauge the client’s synergistic collaboration prospect.

Feasibility Studies:We analyze and quantify the likeliness of the success of a specific
project before it is undertaken by a client. The analysis is based on the technical,
economic, cultural and legal environment that is expected to affect the project’s short
or long term operations. The factors and parameters are essentially case-specific and
may vary with the nature of the project.

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Business & Market Analysis
I. BUSINESS RESEARCH

Business intelligence through dedicated and customized research is the key for
effective decision making.The focal point of GSIC’s business research is to aid clients
in identifying market opportunities, developing market entry strategies, conducting
competitor and industry analysis in order to gain valuable insights into the project’s
feasibility. Our studies include detail profiling of key macro and micro economic
drivers for an industry through an analysis of business operations across any
geography, analyzing and profiling the buyers, suppliers, vendors and competitors in
the industry, related litigation and government policy initiatives. In order to provide
world-class marketing analytics solutions at significantly lower costs, GSIC uses
advanced statistical tools like regression analysis, linear and nonlinear optimization,
cluster analysis, decision trees and conjoint modeling.

Our Business Research capabilities can be broadly categorized into:

Market Assessment and Forecasting

• Identifying and evaluating market trends and key drivers through sector
monitoring
• Market attractiveness and entry feasibility analysis
• Market modeling and trend analysis
• Strategic growth opportunity identification and expansion assessment
• Regulatory environment analysis

Competitive Intelligence and Benchmarking studies

• Industry environment and key competitor analysis: key players profiling, pricing
strategies, distribution strategies, management structure, M&A activities and
tracking current business trends
• Porter’s 5 forces and SWOT analysis for long term strategic planning
• Performance measurement and comparison
• Benchmarking and evaluation

GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING 9

 New Product Development
• Concept & product benchmark testing
• Position of brand relative to competitors; price sensitivity research and
segmentation study
• Usage and attitude study
• Media evaluation and brand name testing

II. MARKET RESEARCH

At GSIC, we understand the innate complexities of providing market research

outsourcing services from an offshore delivery base. To cater to the business needs of
global marketing and market research organizations, we have established robust in-
house processes with a view to ensure proper implementation and maintain quality,
accuracy and integrity of the deliverables, with the objective of reducing your costs
and improving productivity by outsourcing parts of your operations to our offshore
centers in India.

GSIC has experience across all major areas of market research which enables us
to provide full service market research and engineer customized research solutions
for global organizations. We aim to deliver actionable feedback from your target
consumers in an efficient manner by engaging with you throughout the project
lifecycle and capturing insights from all our stakeholders – customers, employees and
target consumers. Our clients, both national and global, are from a range of industries
and disciplines like FMCG/CPG, financial services, technology, hospitality, consumer
electronics, durables, automobiles, websites and portals and others.
We derive our strength from a proven ability to execute small ad-hoc projects as
well as large multiple-geographic studies and provide market research solutions to
national and global organizations across different industry domains. Our services
include:

Survey Programming: We design surveys with built-in skip pattern and zero
duplication intelligence.We have the capability to design web based survey programs

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by incorporating features like secured access to the site hosted, site traffic monitoring,
percentage calculation and many more.

Data Collection: Our data collection techniques includes CATI (computer assisted
telephonic interviews), CAPI (computer assisted personal interviews), web & online
surveys and pen and paper based surveys.

Data Processing
• Data entry
• Data cleaning
• Data validation
• Open ended coding
• Data tabulation
• Data scanning

Data Analysis and Data Mining

• Churn and predictive analysis
• Statistical analysis using standard packages
• Cross tabulation
• Significance testing
• Demand estimation
• Conjoint analysis
• Concept testing

Preparing Reports & Presentations

• Reports
• White papers
• Case studies
• Posting and charting of tabulated data
• Document submission in various formats, i.e. PDF, HTML, XML, Word,
powerpoint

GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING 11

 Investment Research
INVESTMENT BANKING

Equity Research: GSIC undertakes advanced researches to evaluate the intrinsic

value of a stock. The research report provides the client an insight into the valued
company along with a brief on the external environment, i.e. the economy and
the industry. GSIC values a company on factors like business operations, future
investment plans, capital structure, peer group, statistical analysis of stock prices, and
comparative analysis of stock performance, profitability, and cost structure.The report
may include revenue forecast, financial modeling, and sensitivity analysis.

Industry Research: Our coverage domain in an industry report includes a

broad range of factors, which ordinarily depend on the relevance of that factor to
the specific industry. The report generally covers the profile and structure of the
industry, macroeconomic trends, marketing and supply-chain strategies, cost analysis,
technological overview and demand & supply analysis. Also included is a complete
profiling of the key players in terms of their fundamental performance, inventory
management and business risk analysis. The report concludes with a rational SWOT
analysis and a future outlook of the industry. These reports primarily help the client
in identifying the potential in the industry and the performance of the top players.

Credit Research: GSIC provides the most comprehensive credit analysis services
ranging from risk analysis, capital structure optimization, debt analysis, cash flow
modeling etc. Our clients for credit research are primarily hedge fund providers and
facilitators and investment bankers.

Technical Analysis: GSIC has on a continuous basis been able to maintain its
expertise in technical analysis by essentially providing accurate, fast, rational and
up-to-date stock and market performances using technical chartings and models.
The recommendations and suggestions are based on a number of traditional and
contemporary indicators like TMA (Third Exponential Moving Average, SMA
(Simple Moving Average), OBV (On Balance Volume), MACD (Moving Average
Convergence Divergence) and RSI (Relative Strength Index). coupled with stock/
quotes, statistics, market breadth, resistance and support levels makes GSIC’s technical
analysis and research unrivaled.

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Risk Management
GSIC models the various types of financial and non financial risks that may effect
an organization. It entails identifying potential risk factors and quantifying their
impact on the organization. The other services covered are corporate restructuring,
reinsurance and hedging, product development and legal compliance facilitation.

Index Maintenance: Indices are divided into sectors (on the basis of market
capitalization or float) and continuously tracked for clients, thereby assisting them
to remain updated on the performance, trends and potential projected by sectors
on a regular basis.

Fixed Income Research

• Fixed income mutual fund analysis
• Bond valuations
• Fixed income strategies including daily updates on bond markets,
yields, economic news and other relevant information affecting this
asset class.

Derivative Research
• Investment hedging strategies
• Trading strategies for future and options
• Daily updates of derivative markets

GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING 13

 Pitch Books
GSIC prepares the most in-depth pitch books for situations like mergers &
acquisitions and investment deals. Its broad initial layout includes a deal rationale,
business description, analysis of financials, ownership structure and a detailed
industry outlook. The pitch book also focuses on specific indicators/factors with
respect to the type of deal. For example, specifically in a merger and acquisition
deal, GSIC exhaustively elaborates on the dilution in EPS, premium paid, impact of
synergy, relative growth rates etc. The pitch book concludes with the fundamental
valuations using various models like DCF, Moller’s model etc. depending on the
rationale behind it.

Fund Tracking: GSIC provides support in tracking various funds world wide. Such
tracking provides real time information of the current NAVs, the fund philosophy and
strategy, the fund managers brief, the fund performance vis-à-vis index performance
and comparative fund performance. Further more, GSIC’s mutual fund Industry
Insights give a broader outlook of the economy, the industry scenario including
cross-country comparisons, top AMCs, growth of AUM, scope of foreign portfolio
investments, offshore fund allocations and fund size. It also elaborates on the top
performing funds based on numerous categories of indicators like facts, returns, risk
measures etc and concludes with comprehensive market indices performance.

Economic Research: GSIC prepares, amongst the most comprehensive economy

reports that entail an in-depth analysis of the economic prognosis, investment
opportunities, stock markets, monetary policy, regulatory framework and vehicles for
investments. We also give a sound and reasoned estimate of the projected investment
inflows in the economy with a view of giving the client a concise understanding of
the future state of the economy so as to identify potential sectors for investment

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Islamic Finance
I. Analytics
• Stock screening and selection - companies are screened based on Shari’ah
laws and financial strength determined using ratios such as debt to market
capitalization, liquid investments to market capitalization, receivables to market
capitalization etc. Firms involved in “Harram” business such as alcohol, tobacco,
obscene entertainment etc are excluded.

GSIC also follows guidelines offered by Shari’ah scholars.

• Portfolio Monitoring & Purification - GSIC provides fund tracking &

monitoring support to fund manag ers. Securities are included or excluded on
the basis of risk and return. We help quantify the impure earnings in the portfolio
(earnings from prohibited business) to purify the same.

• Reporting - GSIC assists management with timely investor reports which help
inform investors of the purification process, charitable options to which the funds’
monies are used and to ensure full disclosure and transparency to its investors.

II. Consulting Services

GSIC provides consulting services and support to its clients in areas like islamic
bonds (Sukuk) market, opportunities in Shari’ah compliant REITs, real estate, and
real estate funds, Islamic banking system, Takaful / Insurance funds market, investing
in Shari’ah compliant private equity and venture capital.

GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING 15

 Business Delivery Model
Our business model is based upon a core team of approximately 1550 analysts lo-
cated in India, supported by our worldwide team of Client Executives. This team
provides exceptional quality research and related services, delivered in a highly dis-
ciplined manner, at a fraction of your costs. In working with Planman‘s GSIC, you
can count on the following:

• A highly intelligent, experienced and motivated team. We have over

1500 individuals spread across 8 Indian and 5 offshore locations.
• Crisp and disciplined project management and communications from
the start of every interaction through to finish.
• Complete confidentiality and protection of intellectual property.
• An ongoing attitude of excellence - our company is based upon the
ideal that we aim to improve every dimension of working with our
clients on a continual basis.

Competitive differentiators
• GSIC Research Infrastructure:
- Member of NASSCOM® (the premier trade body and the chamber of
commerce of the IT-ITeS industries in India)
- Certified facilities based on ISO 9001:2000, ISO 27001.
- Liaisons with various leading industry associations
- Access to premium databases and a dedicated library for GSIC
Research analysts
- 24 x 7 operations

16 GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING

• Synergies from different Planman Divisions:
- Planman Consulting is India’s largest multi interest consulting ser-
vice organization with several SBUs in the domains of HR, IT, advertis
ing, media, and publication, which share mutual business synergies
and facilitates 360 degree business solutions delivery.
- Indian Council of Market Research, a Planman Consulting SBU en-
gaged in providing market research services to clients globally, pro
vides GSIC with a scalable and continuous talent pool for providing
world class market research solutions.
- Industry and academic linkages

• Scalability: Pool of resources through IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning

and Management, which provides a continuous flow of skilled man
power to scale up our operations at short notice

• Global Reach: Synergies with various institutions and organizations

like UNDP, UNICEF, FICCI, ICRIER, SIDA, World Bank and EU commission
embarks Planman Presence globally.

• Highly qualified and experienced research analysts and industry spe

cialist with highest level of integrity, quality and professionalism.

GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING 17

 Client Relationship Model
GSIC is strongly committed in upholding the highest standards of quality and
integrity in all its endeavors. We aim to customize our knowledge services in the
manner that suits your requirement – whether it’s a project-based effort or ongoing
initiatives utilizing dedicated research teams, we develop and deliver the services
according to your needs. Clients can opt for different service models which are
instrumental in cutting costs substantially and can reduce up to 60% of the current
costs, depending on the location and process complexity, by lowering risks and
ensuring round-the-clock productivity.

• Retainer-based Relationship
This model offers an option of contracting GSIC for a specified period of time
when the scale and scope of projects is relatively undetermined. The client can hire
research associates or consultants on a man-hour/resource basis. The client gets the
twin benefits of lower costs and a dedicated project team that would work exclusively
for client.

• Project-based Relationship
GSIC completes module based projects on a timely basis as and when required. This
model proves very useful in situations where there are no volume commitments and
client wants the work to be done on ad-hoc basis.

• Customized Team Relationship

The client has the discretion of contracting from our team of over 1500 business
associates, senior analysts and other Industry experts for the execution of specific
projects or research studies. The selection of the team is based on the nature and
requirements of the project for the end-to-end execution and customized solution
delivery.

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Value Proposition
We provide high-end knowledge and research process outsourcing delivering value
by jointly assuming responsibility with client for knowledge intense processes. Our
hallmarks are:

• High quality, timeliness and objectivity.

• Multi-industry experience with extensive research infrastructure.
• Significant cost savings which let you create a variable cost structure.

Your Payoff
GSIC delivers tailor-made and zero-error inputs into your strategic decision making
and daily knowledge processes through highly synthesized, processed and actionable
information.We invite you to discover the various advantages of working with us and
encourage you to contact GSIC for discussions on our introductory pilot projects at
no risk or further obligation to your organization.

GLOBAL STRATEGY & INVESTMENT CONSULTING 19

 Your Next Step
Please do not hesitate to contact us, as we would be delighted to discuss ways and
means by which we can make a viable contribution to your business:

Contact:
Prasoon S. Majumdar President
Global Strategy & Investment Consulting
Planman Consulting
New Delhi, India
Tel.: +91-11-42789836
Mobile: +91-9810359839

E-mail:
prasoon.s.majumdar@planmanconsulting.com

g s i c

Head Office
GSIC, Planman Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. Satbari, Mehrauli-Chattarpur Road, New Delhi-74, India.
Ph. 011-42789918, 42789960, 42789953
http://www.planmanconsulting.com/gsic, gsic@planmanconsulting.com

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