Sundaram Asset Management Co., a Chennai, India-based money management firm with more than 400 billion rupees ($5.5 billion) in assets under management, will acquire Principal International's money management businesses in India.
The company will acquire Mumbai-based Principal Asset Management Pvt. and its $1 billion in assets under management pending regulatory approvals, a news release said.
Sundaram will "acquire the schemes managed by Principal Asset Management Pvt. Ltd. and acquire 100% of the share capital of Principal Asset Management Pvt. Ltd., Principal Trustee Company Pvt. Limited and Principal Retirement Advisors Pvt. Ltd."
A spokesman for the firm did not respond to queries regarding the price of the acquisition. A spokesman for Principal could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Sundaram news release said the majority of its 400 billion rupees of AUM and roughly 90% of Principal's 74.5 billion rupees of AUM are invested in equity strategies.
The acquisition is "a natural step in our aspiration to become a sizable player in the asset management industry," T.T. Srinivasaraghavan, managing director of Sundaram's parent company, Sundaram Finance, said in the Sundaram news release.
Pedro Borda, chief operating office, Principal International, in the same release said "as part of a systematic review of the company's portfolio of businesses and global market dynamics, we've made the decision to exit the asset management business in India." He could not be reached for further comment.
JM Financial acted as exclusive financial adviser to Sundaram Asset Management. Barclays acted as exclusive financial adviser to Principal.