Future Capital exits JV with Centrum Capital

Future Capital Holding (FCH) & Centrum Capital Ltd. (CCL) have mutually decided on the rearrangement of share holding on their two existing Joint Ventures, FCH Centrum Wealth Managers Ltd. (FCH CWML) & FCH Centrum Direct Ltd. (FCH CDL).

As per the new arrangement, Centrum Capital Ltd. will buy 50% stake currently held by FCH in the entity FCH Centrum Direct Ltd. for a consideration of Rs. 100 crores.  In 2008, FCH had invested Rs. 75 crore for 50% stake in this joint venture. Post this transaction, Centrum Capital Ltd will hold 100% stake of FCH Centrum Direct Limited. Centrum Direct Ltd. is primarily into the business of Forex money changing and travel solutions.

As part of the same arrangement, FCH will buy out 50% stake of FCH Centrum Wealth Managers Ltd. from CCL at a consideration of Rs 1 crore. In 2008, FCH had invested 50% stake in this joint venture with CCL for Rs 25 crores. Post this transaction, FCH will hold 100% of this entity. FCH Centrum Wealth Managers Ltd. is primarily in the business of Retail Wealth Management. 

In meetings separately convened today, the boards of FCH & CCL independently approved these transactions. The transactions are subject to regulatory approvals.

Both Groups have expressed a strong willingness to explore strategic opportunities to work together in the future.

Commenting on the same, Mr. V. Vaidyanathan, Vice Chairman & Managing Direct, Future Capital Said “We are excited about building an Excellent Broking and Wealth management franchise brought to us through the acquisition of FCH Centrum Wealth Managers Ltd. Our exit from the second Joint venture of FCH Centrum Direct Ltd is in line with our already stated strategy in this matter. “

Mr. Chandir Gidwani, Chairman, Centrum Capital Ltd said “We will continue to build on our successful and market leading franchise in the Forex Money Changing & Travel vertical. This business forms a part of the core of our retail financial services strategy. We will continue to invest and grow our Wealth Management and High Net worth broking and distribution businesses on the Centrum Broking platform. We are excited about the market potential for retail financial services in India and have drawn up an ambitious plan to be a leading player in this space. “

About Future Capital Holdings:
Future Capital Holdings (FCH) is in the business of providing financial services across wholesale and consumer businesses.  Under the consumer finance business, it offers Consumer Durable loans, Loans against property, Security and Gold and is in the process of building a strong and customer centric broking and wealth management business.  In the Wholesale Credit category, its bouquet covers corporate loans for acquisitions, project financing and other wholesale businesses. As of Dec 2010, the company had a total of 45000 customers, 20 full service branches, 260 employees and net worth of Rs. 754 crores.

About Centrum
Centrum Group is a universal investment bank that offers Debt, Private Equity, IPO, Foreign Exchange, Travel solutions, Stock Broking and Advisory services to clients ranging from HNIs, Banks, PFs, Insurance companies and FIIs. The footprint spans over 100+ branches in India and overseas including a presence in Middle East, the Far East and the US. With a talented team of over 1200 people, Centrum has emerged as a fast growing player in the financial services business. The Group is committed to achieving its objectives on the strength of its core expertise, solid team of professionals and through a mix of acquisitions, strategic alliances and tie-ups in select areas with domestic and international partners.