- lead - … it earns fees by helping companies raise capital and by connecting institutional investors to Indian equities. The business took its current shape in 2019, when veteran dealmaker Dharmesh Mehta and his team acquired the firm from IDFC Group and rebuilt it as an independent, founder-led house free of legacy distractions. Everything the firm does flows from a single, recurring approach: hire experienced senior bankers, keep the balance sheet debt-free and the headcount lean at just 125 people, and focus selectively on higher-fee mandates where independence and speed win the brief.
Business segments
Two engines that feed each other - a merchant banking franchise that earns fees on capital-raising and M&A, and an institutional equities platform whose research and broking serve the investors who buy those deals.
1. Merchant banking: the fee engine that turns corporate events into revenue
The firm earns success fees by taking companies public, raising capital for listed ones, and advising on mergers - a business where a single mandate can define a quarter and a pipeline of 25 IPO mandates provides forward visibility.
- Paid on deal completion - the segment executes equity capital market (ECM) transactions - IPOs, QIPs (qualified institutional placements), rights issues, buybacks, and offers for sale - and collects fees only when the deal closes, which is why quarterly results swing with market cycles.
- A 96-deal track record since the 2019 reset - from November 2019 through March 2026, the firm executed 96 ECM transactions, including 29 IPOs and 19 QIPs, giving it a body of work that prospective clients can see.
- One in ten IPOs in India last year - in FY26, the firm acted as book-running lead manager on 11 of the 112 IPOs that hit the Indian market, a 10% share by number of deals, raising over ₹19,000 crore across 19 total ECM transactions.
- The pipeline is the forward indicator - as of March 2026, the firm had 25 IPO mandates in its pipeline (defined as a filed DRHP, a signed engagement letter, or a confirmed mandate), of which 13 are left-lead roles and 6 are sole-banker assignments, meaning the firm leads the deal rather than sharing the fee.
2. Institutional equities: the investor-access engine that feeds the deal flow
A research-and-broking platform that gives 298 global institutions a window into Indian stocks - and gives the merchant bank a captive audience of buyers for the deals it brings to market.
- Research is the front door - a 30-member team covers 187 stocks across 21 sectors, producing everything from company initiations to thematic reports on data centres and semiconductors, which draws institutional investors into the firm’s ecosystem.
- Execution across cash and derivatives - a 31-member broking desk with an average of over 23 years of experience executes trades for clients, including block deals, across BSE, NSE cash, and NSE futures and options.
- Clients are global, concentration is falling - the firm serves 298 active institutional clients across India, the US, UK, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Middle East, with the top 10 clients contributing 40% of revenue in FY26, down from 45% in FY22, so the book is diversifying.
- Corporate access turns research into relationships - the team organises roadshows, conferences, and expert calls that put company managements in front of investors, which deepens client ties and creates natural demand for the IPOs and QIPs the merchant bank is selling.
Group structure and partners
A founder-led, debt-free public company with a US broker-dealer subsidiary that lets it serve American institutions directly.
- The promoter group holds 40% of the equity, with founder Dharmesh Mehta as Managing Director and CEO, supported by a board where five of seven directors are independent, chaired by former Union Bank of India chief MV Nair.
- DAM Capital (USA) Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary in New York, is registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer and is a member of FINRA and SIPC, allowing US clients to trade Indian securities on a delivery-versus-payment basis.
- A second subsidiary, DAM Asset Management Limited, was incorporated in July 2024 to enter the asset management business, though it is not yet material.
- The firm holds SEBI registrations as a Merchant Banker, Research Analyst, and Stock Broker for BSE and NSE cash and derivatives segments, and operates from offices in Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahmedabad.