Reliance Capital to buy Goldman's Indian fund unit for $37.5 mln

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Reliance Capital Asset Management said on Wednesday it would buy Goldman Sachs fund management unit in India for $37.5 million, marking the latest exit by a foreign fund manager.

Asset managers in India have struggled for years with high redemptions after the financial crisis, leading to some high-profile exits.

Although retail investments have surged this year, competition for funds has been steep given India has more than 40 asset managers, raising expectations for further consolidation.

Reliance Capital Asset Management is India's third largest fund house and manages about 1.53 trillion rupees ($23.50 billion) in total assets. Last week, Japan's Nippon Life raised its stake in the fund management unit to 49 percent.

Goldman had expanded its India fund operations through its 2011 acquisition of exchange-traded fund specialist Benchmark Asset Management.

Its exit comes after Deutsche Bank sold its funds business to Pramerica earlier this year. Morgan Stanley, Japan's Daiwa and Fidelity Worldwide have all sold their India funds business in recent years.

($1 = 65.1150 rupees)

(Reporting by Himank Sharma; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)