Anand Rathi Wealth Management has acquired the wealth management arm of Religare Enterprises Ltd, taking its total assets under management (AUM) to over Rs 13,500 crore, said a company statement.
News Corp VCCircle was the first to report that Religare was in talks to sell the business to Anand Rathi Group, which has about Rs 10,000 crore in AUM.
The move is part of a consolidation and restructuring strategy, under which Religare Enterprises has divested some of its businesses in the past year, shifted focus to India operations and decided, in December, to absorb 11 wholly-owned units.
Nalin Nayyar, Group CEO, Religare Enterprises Ltd, said, “Anand Rathi Wealth Management business has grown multi-fold over the last few years and I am sure our clients and employees will benefit from their unique value-proposition and proven track record.”
Religare Wealth, which serves about 4,500 clients, posted a revenue of Rs 24.8 crore for 2015-16. Its assets were a tad above Rs 4,000 crore as of 31 March 2016. However, it is likely to see a drag on valuation as it reported a loss of Rs 7.9 crore for 2015-16.
The wealth management unit was earlier a joint venture between Religare Enterprises and Macquarie Group Ltd. In September 2013, the Indian company acquired Macquarie’s stake.
Last year, Baring Private Equity Asia had acquired Religare Credit Advisors LLP (RCA), the private debt platform of Religare Global Asset Management. News Corp VCCircle was the first to report that a deal was in the works.
Anand Rathi Private Wealth Management provides wealth management services to high and ultra high-net-worth worth individuals. It has over 120 financial advisors.
Rakesh Rawal, CEO, Anand Rathi Wealth Management, said, “With the acquisition, we also take on a significant responsibility—carefully integrating customers and employees from a firm as well reputed as Religare.”
Religare Enterprises offers financial services products through its underlying subsidiaries and operating entities, including loans to SMEs, affordable housing finance, health insurance, capital markets and wealth management. With over 7,000 employees, the group has a presence across more than 1,450 locations across India.
Brothers Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh own a 50.93% stake in Religare Enterprises. The firm also counts IFC—the private investment arm of the World Bank—and US-based Customers Bancorp as institutional shareholders.
So far, the group has sold flagship pharma firm Ranbaxy, venture capital arm Northgate Capital, private equity fund house Landmark Partners, real estate private equity arm Cerestra Advisors Ltd and insurance JV Religare Invesco Asset Management Company.
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