Avendus Capital agreed to acquire Ocean Dial Asset Management, a U.K.-based manager specializing in long-only India equities, an Ocean Dial spokesman said.
Ocean Dial, which manages £450 million ($587 million) via three funds, was purchased from Raju Shukla, chairman and managing director of Ocean Dial Investment Co., and the management team. The spokesman declined to provide further details about the deal. The value was not disclosed.
"The acquisition will help us scale up our public equities presence. As the public markets are deepening, we are observing a switch from mutual funds to alternate investment funds," Ranu Vohra, co-founder, managing director and CEO of Avendus Capital, said in a news release.
Ocean Dial's three open-end UCITS funds invest in Indian equities across the market cap spectrum.
David Cornell, chief investment officer of Ocean Dial, said in the release: "The entire team at Ocean Dial is excited about the potential of this acquisition. We believe this transaction will help us to develop our product range, with Ocean Dial's funds continuing to offer investors attractive exposure to the Indian growth story."
The majority shareholders of Avendus Capital are funds and investment vehicles managed or advised by KKR & Co. The asset management business of Avendus Capital, Avendus Capital Alternate Strategies, offers India listed equity and equity derivative strategies. Flagship fund Avendus Absolute Return Fund has about $150 million in assets under management.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals in India and the U.K.
