Birla Sun Life MF likely to buy assets of ING Investment Management

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund is in the final stages to acquire assets of ING Investment Management in India, it is reliably learned.

The exact deal size could not be immediately ascertained, but sources said that a formal announcement is expected shortly. The deal is part of ING’s strategy of exiting its asset management and insurance businesses in Asia.

Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund would takeover all the schemes of ING's asset management business, a top source at the Aditya Birla group company said. Once finalised, the deal will add about Rs 564 crore to Birla Sun Life’s assets under management (AUM) which stood at Rs 89,051 crore as on March 31, 2014. 

Other than Birla Sun Life, L&T Mutual Fund, Axis Mutual Fund BNP Paribas Mutual and Pramerica Mutual, were said to be in the race to buy ING’s assets.

The 50-odd employees at the target company in India would not be taken over by Birla Sun Life Mutual, sources said. However, this could not be independently verified. A spokesperson for ING Asset Management did not respond to a Business Line questionnaire.

As per news reports, ING owns 47.25 per cent in ING Investment Management while Raheja’s Hathway Investments and Kirti Equities hold 39.75 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. It could not be ascertained if Hathway Investments and Kirti Equities too would sell out to Birla Sun Life. 

If the deal is finalised, it will be the third in the mutual fund industry in the last few months. In December last year, Morgan Stanley had announced the sale of the schemes of its Indian asset management company to HDFC Mutual Fund while SBI Mutual bought Daiwa’s domestic assets.

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