Sundaram AMC notifies CCI of 100% stake acquisition in Principal Asset Management

Sundaram Asset Management Company Ltd (SAMC) has notified the Competition Commission of India (CCI) of its acquisition of 100% issued and paid-up equity share capital in Principal Asset Management Pvt Ltd (PAMP) and its related firms, on Friday.

Earlier in January, SAMC had announced its plans for the transaction, which included Principal Trustee Company Pvt Ltd (PTCPL) and Principal Retirement Advisors Pvt Ltd (PRAPL), valued at Rs 338.5 crore.

As per the proposed transaction, schemes of the Principal Mutual Fund (PMF) shall be transferred to Sundaram Mutual Fund and the trusteeship and management of the PMF schemes shall be transferred to Sundaram Trustee Company Ltd and SAMC.

The fund houses have said that they will ensure no disruption of service to their partners and investors during the interim period and a seamless transfer once approval for the deal was obtained.

PAMP had assets under management (AUM) of Rs 7,447 crore at the end of December last year, compared to SAMC’s AUM of about Rs 40,000 crore. Both the asset management companies had a majority of assets in equity-oriented schemes.

While stating that the transaction does not give rise to competition concerns, SAMC proposed to define the relevant market as the market for mutual funds in India, in its filing with the regulator.

Further, this market could be segmented into three markets, the market for equity oriented mutual funds schemes in India, the market for debt oriented mutual funds schemes in India and the market for hybrid mutual funds schemes in India, it said.