UTI MF revives IPO plan, expects finmin nod in a month

The country's oldest fund house, UTI Mutual Fund, is reviving its initial public offer (IPO) plan and expects approval from the finance ministry in a month.
"IPO is being discussed and being reviewed by finance ministry. We expect to get their response in a month," UTI MF MD Leo Puri told PTI.
The IPO should be launched within six months thereafter, Puri said while speaking on the sidelines of commemorative postage stamp released event organised by the company to mark 50 years of UTI.
State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) hold stake in UTI Mutual Fund on behalf of the central government.

These entities jointly own a 74 per cent stake in the fund house while the remaining 26 per cent stake is with the US-based investment firm T Rowe Price.
In 2008, UTI Asset Management Co. (UTI AMC) deferred its IPO owning to uncertain market conditions. The fund house had proposed to sell 48 million equity shares through the IPO. Subsequently in 2009, all the four sponsors of UTI diluted 6.5 per cent each in favour of T Rowe Price.

Market analysts believe that the listing of UTI AMC would strengthen the corporate governance of the mutual fund and this development would result in other asset management companies going for listing.

The stake sale would also help in meeting a minimum 25 per cent public float norm. However, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has not fixed any time limit for this.
During the second quarter (April-June)of the current fiscal (2014-15), UTI MF's average assets under management (AUM) was Rs 83,250 crore.
The country's 45 fund houses together had an average AUM of Rs 10.6 lakh crore at the end of September quarter, up from Rs 8.87 lakh crore at the end of preceding three months.