Cholamandalam Investment, Aptus deny talks for merger after media reports

Chola says it 'has not expressed any interest either in the past or present in acquiring' Aptus Value

BS Reporter, Chennai

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (Chola) of the Murugappa group said on Thursday it has no plans to acquire a stake in Aptus Value Housing Finance India.

“We wish to clarify that Chola has not expressed any interest either in the past or present in acquiring Aptus Value Housing Finance,” said the company in a statement after media reports that it plans a takeover.

According to the reports, the two companies started talks after Aptus promoter M Anandan failed to pick a successor in the family to run the business. “We hereby confirm that the Company is not part of any such negotiations/events as mentioned in the report,” said Aptus in a statement on Wednesday. Anandan was earlier with the Murugappa Group. On Thursday, Aptus shares were down by almost 7 per cent, while that of Chola fell marginally.

In the third quarter, Chola’s assets under management (AUM) was at Rs 95,468 crore, up 31 per cent from the same time last year. Out of this, the majority of Rs 61,285 crore and Rs 19,997 crore came from vehicle finance and loans against property (LAP), respectively. These two contribute to 64 per cent and 21 per cent of the total AUM, followed by home loans (8 per cent) and new businesses (7 per cent).