EY appoints Harsha Basnayake as Asia-Pacific Leader of Transaction Advisory Services

EY has announced that Harsha Basnayake has been appointed EY Asia-Pacific Leader of Transaction Advisory Services (TAS), effective July 2016.

Based in EY’s office in Singapore, Harsha will lead a team of more than 2,000 professionals across the Asia-Pacific region in providing high-quality services focused on buy-side and sell-side deals, strategy and operations, turnaround and restructuring, in line with EY’s purpose of building a better working world.

Transaction Advisory Services EY Global Vice Chair Steve Krouskos says: “The Asia-Pacific region holds enormous opportunity for us and we will continue to invest and expand our transaction and capital management capabilities – from strategy to execution. Under Harsha’s leadership we will continue to extend our strong position in Asia-Pacific markets and I am confident our clients will benefit from his wealth of experience.”

EY Asia-Pacific Area Managing Partner Steven Phan says, “Harsha previously held the dual roles of EY ASEAN TAS Leader and EY Asia-Pacific Deputy TAS Leader and he has been instrumental in driving investment and growth for the service line across the whole of Asia-Pacific. His outstanding leadership will further enhance the growth of the Asia-Pacific TAS practice, extending our footprint into new markets.”

Harsha has enjoyed a long and successful career with EY since joining the organisation in Colombo, Sri Lanka as a trainee in 1987. He later joined EY in Singapore in 1997 and progressed to lead the country’s TAS practice. Since 2009, Harsha has served as ASEAN regional TAS Leader, driving its transformation into a 600-strong team by building out its deal origination, execution, strategy and operations capabilities. Prior to this, he established the Valuation and Business Modelling practice in the Far East and has served as one of the pioneering members of the EY Global Valuation & Business Modelling Steering Committee.

Transaction Advisory Services Asia-Pacific Leader Harsha Basnayake says: “I see tremendous potential in Asia-Pacific markets for the TAS business. We have a solid footprint across all of our markets, a strong sector focus and amazing creative discipline in the teams that we carry. These attributes will allow us to focus on our clients’ needs while asking the right questions and helping them to make smarter decisions around deals, strategy, planning, turnaround and restructuring.

“TAS recently announced the launch of its Asia-Pacific Transaction Advisory Centre (APTAC), an Asia-Pacific wide investment construct that deploys a virtual team of dedicated professionals across the region. APTAC will allow us to incubate newer service offerings, ranging from decision support analytics to turnaround and resilience services and corporate finance digital strategy,” says Basnayake.

 “Its establishment reflects our continuing commitment to innovation and to building diversity of experience into the investments that we make, the teams that we create and the services we offer to our clients.”

In his new role, Harsha will become a member of the Asia-Pacific Operating Executive and the Global Practice Group and will continue to serve as a member of the TAS Global Executive Committee. Harsha succeeds John Hope, who is returning to the Oceania practice. He will also work with the TAS Executive leadership team to help accelerate specific global growth initiatives.

“I would like to thank John for his outstanding leadership of the TAS business over the past six years,” says Steven. “During this period, John successfully navigated challenging market conditions and he has been central to TAS’ evolution into a global market leader. John’s intensive focus on embedding sector capabilities and offering a ‘whole of EY’ approach has provided maximum value to our clients and I am pleased that Harsha will continue to build on this success as he steps into his new role.”