Indiabulls Housing gets CCI approval to divest mutual fund biz to Groww

Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBHFL) has received the CCI approval to divest its mutual fund business to Groww for Rs 175 crore.

The company's wholly-owned subsidiaries Indiabulls Asset Management Company Ltd (IMACL) and Indiabulls Trustee Company Ltd (ITCL) had entered into a definitive transaction agreement in May this year with Nextbillion Technology (Groww) for divestment of mutual fund business carried out by these two entities.

"In furtherance...the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has pursuant to a communication letter dated September 9, 2021, approved the transaction," IBHFL said in a regulatory filing.

Divestment of the mutual fund business is aimed at focussing on its retail estate asset management business, as it is not the core focus area of the company.

Groww commenced its financial services business in May 2016. It is currently one of the leading tech platforms for investing in stocks and mutual funds.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, it is backed by marquee investors like Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, Y Combinator and Ribbit Capital.

Groww serves over 1.5 crore users in more than 900 cities across India.

The transaction to hive off the mutual fund business by Indiabulls Housing is expected to be closed on or before June 30, 2022.

After the conclusion of the deal, Indiabulls Housing will cease to hold any equity shares and its sole control over IAMCL and ITCL.

As of March 31, 2020, the mutual fund revenue constituted 0.03 per cent of the consolidated revenue of the housing financier company.