Religare Capital Markets Ltd (RCML), investment banking arm of Religare Enterprises Ltd, has bought a majority stake in South Africa’s broking firm Noah Financial Innovation for an undisclosed sum, the company has said in a BSE statement on Monday.
Incorporated in 1998, Noah (previously, Mettle Securities Pty Ltd) is an established player in the South African market, offering tailored execution and independent research to the institutional investment community.
The acquisition will boost RCML’s existing trading, sales trading and research capabilities in South Africa, and also accelerate RCML's push into one of the world’s major emerging markets. The company will add 20 more professional to the existing team to provide content and research services.
“South Africa is the fifth member of the BRICS and it is no coincidence that RCML sees it as an integral part of our emerging markets investment banking platform, both in its own right and as a beachhead for our wider Africa banking ambitions,” said Martin Newson, CEO of RCML.
At 11:35 am, shares of Religare Enterprises were trading at Rs 460 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, up 0.33% from the previous close.
Prior to this deal, RCML had acquired Barnard Jacobs Mellet (UK) Ltd and Barnard Jacobs Mellet (USA) LLC, highly rated distribution platforms for South African equities in London and New York respectively.
Last December, Religare had acquired 55 per cent stake in the US-based Landmark Partners, a private equity and real estate fund-of-funds asset manager focused on secondary transactions, for a consideration of $171.5 million. The company also acquired 50 per cent stake in Sri Lanka’s Bartleet Mallory Stockbrokers Pvt Ltd.
RCML has now presence in nine countries and has more than 300 staff members, including investment bankers, analysts and sales & trading teams operating in London, New York and across emerging markets.
