Sudhir Valia's Fortune Financial acquires investment banking outfit

A majority stake in Inga Capital has been acquired, show filings

Sudhir Valia’s investment spree has continued in 2015. Recent filings by Fortune Financial show it acquired a Mumbai-based investment banking outfit earlier in the year.

“Fortune Financial Services India has informed BSE that the company has acquired 4,768,022 equity shares of Rs 10 each fully paid of Inga Capital Pvt Ltd. With this, itss holding in Inga Capital is 68.19 per cent of the total paid-up equity capital,” said the exchange announcement.

This is not Fortune’s first grab at inorganic growth. The company had earlier disclosed an agreement to acquire ITI Financial Services. It later entered into an agreement to acquire Antique Stock Broking. Both deals were in 2013.

 

In 2015, Valia made a Rs 73 crore investment in plywood company Greenply Industries, in February. The Inga acquisition was announced in March. Earlier, he had also been involved in deals in wind energy company Suzlon and payment bank licence applicant Pay Point India Network.

Valia has previously spoken of his intent to grow in the financial services space. A number of his acquisitions were seen as a means to create scale in the broking and capital market segments. Fortune is the company through which most of this activity has taken place. JT Poonja, chairman, and Nimish C Shah incorporated Fortune Financial Services (India) in 1991. It is involved in multiple financial services, including equities, commodities and distribution, in addition to investment banking activities. Sudhir Valia is listed as promoter of the company.

He is also the brother-in-law of Dilip Shanghvi, promoter of Sun Pharma. Shanghvi recently pipped Mukesh Ambani to become the richest Indian. The latest target of Valia’s acquisition spree is less than two decades old. Its website shows Inga was incorporated in November 2, 1999. The company is involved in mergers and acquisitions, initial public offers, debt syndication and similar activities, according to its website. It also has a corporate advisory and a private equity practice. The recent Rs 330 crore Initial Public Offer of MEP Infrastructure Developers was co-managed by Inga.

Fortune Financial’s share price was up 200 per cent in the previous 52-week period from a low of Rs.66.55. It is currently trading at Rs 200. It has touched a high of Rs 293. The profit before tax was Rs 3.81 crore in the financial year ending March, after a loss the previous year.