Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the change in name of DSP Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (DSPMLIM) to DSP BlackRock Investment Managers. BlackRock, which is the biggest publicly traded US money manager, had acquired a 40% stake of Merrill Lynch in DSPML Fund Managers in January this year.
The transfer of shares and change in name and brand will take place from October. The new mutual fund would be named DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund. Merrill Lynch combined its investment management business, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, with BlackRock in 2006 for a 49% stake in the merged entity.
As the subprime crisis increased Merrill Lynch losses, it was feared that it may sell its stake in BlackRock to raise money. But with Bank of America's takeover of Merrill Lynch earlier this month for $50 billion, things are much more stable. As per June end this year, BlackRock managed $1.43 trillion in assets. DSP Merrill Lynch currently manages about $4 billion of assets.
