The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the Sundaram Asset Management Company Ltd’s (SAMC) acquisition of Principal Asset Management, Principal Trustee Company and Principal Retirement Advisors. SAMC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sundaram Finance, had in January this year announced acquisition of Principal Asset Management business in India for ₹338.53 crore.
Principal Asset Management had assets under management of ₹7,447 crore as of December 2020 with about 90 per cent of this in equity-oriented schemes. “Commission approves acquisition of Principal Asset Management, Principal Trustee Company and Principal Retirement Advisors by Sundaram Asset Management Company,” the CCI said in a tweet.
“This transaction will strengthen our presence in the marketplace with the addition of a range of schemes with a good long term performance track record across the large and mid-cap segments. This will complement our business which has traditionally been weighted towards the mid- and small-cap segment,” Sunil Subramaniam, MD, Sundaram MF, had then said.
This acquisition is being seen as a natural step in Sundaram’s aspiration to become a sizeable player in the asset management industry. Currently, Sundaram has over ₹40,000 crore in assets under management, the majority of which is in equity-oriented schemes.