Reliance gets Sebi, Singapore approval for AMC stake sale

Reliance Capital on Wednesday said it has got approval from the Indian market regulator Sebi and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for Rs 1,450-crore (Rs 14.5 billion) stake sale in its mutual fund business unit to Japan's Nippon Life.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group's financial services arm Reliance Capital  (RCAP is selling 26 per cent stake in Reliance Capital Asset Management Co (RCAM), which runs India's most profitable mutual fund, to the Japanese firm.

In a statement issued today, Reliance Cap said that it has received approval from Sebi, as also MAS, for the deal. RCAP has operations in Singapore as well, because of which the transaction required MAS approval.

Commenting on the development, Reliance Capital CEO Sam Ghosh said: "We are delighted to get these approvals, and are thankful to the regulators for their support."

The deal was approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week, which it has also got the clearance from Competition Commission of India and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

The definitive agreement for the deal, the largest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Indian mutual fund space, was signed between Reliance Cap and Nippon Life in late March this year.

The transaction is expected to close in next few weeks. The Nippon Life transaction values RCAM, the country's most profitable fund house, at about Rs 5,600 crore (Rs 56 billion).

Reliance Capital has already completed another deal with Nippon Life, wherein the Japanese financial services giant has acquired 26 per cent stake in Reliance Life Insurance for Rs 3,100 crore (Rs 31 billion), valuing the life insurance venture at about Rs 11,500 crore (Rs 115 billion).

For the last fiscal ended March 31, 2012, RCAM posted a net profit of Rs 276 crore (Rs 2.76 billion), retaining its position as the country's most profitable fund house for the second year.

The company's profit after tax grew by over five per cent from Rs 261 crore (Rs 2.61 billion) in the previous fiscal 2011-12. Its profit before tax also grew by five per cent to Rs 308 crore (Rs 3.08 billion) in the fiscal ended March 31, 2012.

Reliance Capital AMC (Asset Management Company) had overtaken HDFC AMC as the country's most profitable fund house during the previous fiscal 2010-11 and has managed to retain its leadership position.

Reliance Capital Asset Management managed Rs 1,40,853 crore (USD 27.5 billion) as on March 31, 2012, across mutual funds, pension funds, managed accounts and hedge funds.

Reliance Mutual Fund figures among the top two mutual funds in India, in terms of AUM, with market share of nearly 12 per cent and its average AUM stood at Rs 78,112 crore (Rs 781.12 billion) for the period ended March 31, 2012.