Friday, May 11, 2007

Big names gear up to pick up stake in Reliance MF

Big private equity and asset management firms have lined up for a small stake in Reliance MF. Blackstone, the big US PE firm which has operations in India will look to build a relationship base with what is the biggest Asset management company in India and has Assets Under Management(AUM) which are scaling new heights, recently surpassing the 50,000 crore mark.
Reliance MF which is eyeing a valuation of 1.2 billion dollars (10% of the total AUM) is also on the radar of Schroder’s, the British fund with assets of about $260 bn after speculation that it wants to enter the Asset Management business in India and one of the units of US based Capital.
If this deal does go through it will help the foreign investors to cement a relationship with one of the biggest money mangers in the world .The industry’s AUM has witnessed a growth of almost 85% over two years starting 2005 April, and with the future looking bright these foreign firms could not have possibly found a better opportunity to build on a base starting with the leader in the Indian Markets .On the other hand it’s a win-win situation as far as Reliance Capital is concerned as it will give the company valuable know-how and technical proficiency in the Financial Services industry with the biggest names on its board. Valuations are also going crazy with the firm hitting a new high on the BSE.
Even if the offer is not accepted it has showcased the potential for the growth of the industry, with the American and the European markets approaching perfection and that these investors are finding it hard to outperform the markets there, they are looking at offshoring their business to low cost and high return destinations on the long term like India.
Related articles:
Schroders looking to join the AMC brigade

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