US-based Janus Capital returns to stock market, buys into Vakrangee, HDIL and Cox & Kings

MUMBAI: US-based Janus Capital, one of the earliest foreign institutional investors in India, is pumping money into domestic stocks after trimming its exposure here post the global financial crisis. The asset manager, known to have bought as much as 6% in Reliance Industries in the previous bull run, has picked up stocks such as Vakrangee, Cox & Kings and HDIL in the last six months.

The return of Janus to Dalal Street came under the spotlight after its 1.5% stake purchase in Vakrangee, a company primarily responsible for implementing and promoting the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna in rural areas. Vakrangee shares surged as much as 15% on Thursday to Rs 136.50 on BSE. Analysts say, by betting on Vakrangee, Janus is betting on the government's e-governance plans.

"Vakrangee has evolved as a leading technology player, implementing Government of India's e-governance programmes in 16 states," said Nilesh Gandhi, analyst at Destimoney Securities. "After successful scaling up of the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna, the union government is focusing on leveraging of the JAM platform for direct benefit transfer and we believe that Vakrangee, with its umbrella of offerings and wide spread network, is ideally placed to garner a sizeable pie of this opportunity."

Janus came into the limelight in India in April 2000 after it acquired 5.64% in Reliance for Rs 2,000 crore. As on March 31 this year, the American fund owned about 0.66% stake in the company, according to Bloomberg. Other than Reliance, it holds less than 1% in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Axis Bank, Hindustan Zink and SBI. Since 2008, the fund has fully or partially sold its stakes in all Indian stocks including HDFC, Infosys, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Reliance Capital, IDFC, Marico and Ipca, among others.

Analysts said Janus has taken a contrarian bet on HDIL, which has been out of investors' favour for a while because of its heavy debt.