Bank of Baroda to buy out JV partner's entire stake in AMC biz

State-owned Bank of Baroda will fully acquire its mutual fund and trustee business and buy the entire 51 per cent stake held by the joint-venture partner UniCredit.
Bank of Baroda said it has executed a share purchase agreement with UniCredit SpA (UniCredit), Baroda Pioneer Asset Management Company Ltd (AMC) and Baroda Pioneer Trustee Company Pvt Ltd (Trustee Company) on December 28, 2017.
"Pursuant the share purchase agreement, the Bank will be purchasing from its joint venture partner, UniCredit, their entire equity stake of 51 per cent in the AMC and the Trustee Company. Pursuant to the acquisition, the bank will become the sole shareholder of the AMC and the Trustee Company and the sole sponsor of the Baroda Pioneer Mutual Fund," the bank said in a regulatory filing.

Thus, bank's shareholding increases to 100 per cent with the exit of foreign partner Pioneer Investments, Bank of Baroda said.
The move comes on the back of the acquisition of Pioneer Investments( subsidiary of UniCredit) by Amundi earlier this year who already has a presence in Indian AMC.
"Given the rapid growth in the mutual fund industry and the trend of household savings moving towards financial assets, the bank sees merit in building out the asset management business, with an aim to become a meaningful player in the asset and wealth management space," said P S Jayakumar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Baroda.

Bank of Baroda is keen to see significant growth in the business and will evaluate options in that regard, including strategic partner, if merited, Jayakumar said.

The bank said the transaction is pending subject to regulatory approval including from Sebi, the Competition Commission of India and the Reserve Bank.
The fund's average assets under management (AUM) stood at Rs 11,000 crore as on November 2017.
Stock of Bank of Baroda closed 1.93 per cent down at Rs 162.75 on BSE.