Reliance Capital to acquire Quant Capital

Anil Ambani group's financial services arm Reliance Capital today said it will acquire brokerage and equity research firm Quant Capital, but did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

Following the acquisition, operations of Quant Capital would be integrated with that of Reliance Equity International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital.

Quant Capital, which was incorporated in December 2007 and began operations in May 2008, employs over 100 professionals and has signficant presence in both the foreign and domestic institutional markets.

"Reliance Capital proposed to take a majority stake in Mumbai-based Quant Capital Group. The existing management team at Quant Capital will continue to be responsible for its operations," the Anil Ambani group firm said in a statement.

When asked about financial details of the deal, a company spokesperson declined to comment.

Reliance Capital aims to achieve benefits like business synergies, cost optimisation and increased scale of operations after integrating the acquired entity with its subsidiary Reliance Equity International.

The deal is subject to necessary regulatory approvals.Quant Capital primarily focuses on institutional cash equities and equity derivatives business. Besides, traditional fundamental research, it also combines quantitative and behavioral research to forecast trends and inflection for global currencies, commodities and equities.

Reliance Capital has interests in asset management, mutual funds, life and general insurance, private equity and proprtietary investments, brokerage, depository services, distribution of financial products, consumer finance and other activities in the financial services segment.

The company's shares were trading at Rs 794.60 in the early afternoon trade at the BSE, down nearly four per cent in a weak market. The stock had touched an intra-day low of Rs 730 earlier in the day.