French major picks up 37% stake in SBIMF

State Bank of India (SBI) has transferred 37% of its stake in SBI Mutual Fund to French financial major Societe Generale Asset Management.

SBI has offloaded 18.5 lakh shares worth Rs 100 each to SGAM and the amount has been received, the bank informed Bombay Stock Exchange today.

The deal, which is valued at over $35 million when the agreement was signed in July, would enable SBI Mutual Fund to get foreign expertise in risk management, product development and technical aspects.

While signing the agreement, SBI Chairman A K Purwar said the tie up would help SBI Mutual Fund to position itself as one of the top players in mutual fund industry.

SBI has already taken necessary approvals from RBI, SEBI and FIPB for the deal.

SBI now has 63% stake in SBI Mutual Fund. The agreement envisages that a third party cannot be inducted for seven years.

SBI Mutual Fund had assets under management of over Rs 5,500 crore with a market share of 3.51% as on June 2004.

SGAM, which manages assets worth over 252 billion euro worldwide and operates in 20 countries, would get proportional representation on SBI Mutual Fund Board.