Fair trade watchdog CCI has cleared the proposed deal between Birla Sun Life entities and ING in the mutual funds space, saying the transaction was unlikely to have an adverse impact on competition.
The deal involves acquisition of the trusteeship, right to manage and administer the schemes of ING Mutual Fund as well as the right to manage portfolio management services accounts of ING Investment Management (India) Pvt Ltd.
The acquirers are Birla Sun Life Trustee Company Pvt Ltd and Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd. The former is the trustee company of Birla Sun Life MF.
Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company is the asset management firm of Birla Sun Life MF.
Giving its green signal, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said the proposed combination "is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India".
"Post combination, the ING Mutual Fund schemes would become schemes of Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund and portfolio management clients of ING AMC will continue as the clients of Birla Sun Life AMC," the order, dated July 3 and made public today, said.
The total size of the market in terms of the asset under management for all the portfolio management services in India was around Rs 7,68,326 crore at the end of March this year.
"It is observed that the share of the ING Portfolio Management Services in the total AUM is also insignificant. Therefore, the acquisitions of ING entities by the acquirers do not provide any significant addition in the market share of the acquirers," the order noted.
For the transaction, Birla Sun life Trustee, Birla Sun Life AMC, ING AMC, ING Investment Management Holdings NV and the Board of Trustees of the ING Mutual Fund had entered into a transfer agreement on May 15.
