L&T Finance completes acquisition of Fidelity's Indian MF biz

NEW DELHI: L&T Finance, a part of diversified group Larsen & Toubro, today said it has completed the acquisition of Fidelity's mutual fund business in India for an undisclosed amount.

On completion of this transaction, the all new L&T Mutual Fund has over Rs 12,800 crore in managed assets and an investor base of close to 9.5 lakh investors from more than 200 cities and towns, a company statement said.

"With this acquisition, our fund suite spans the whole range of investment opportunities - equity, fixed income, hybrid, domestic and international funds - and moves us closer to becoming one of the country's leading and admired asset management companies," L&T Finance Holdings Chairman & Managing Director Y M Deosthalee said.

This transaction is among one of the largest M&A deals in the Indian mutual fund industry and provides L&T with the necessary size, scale and momentum to move to the next level.

L&T Mutual Fund has recently strengthened its investments team. The AMC has appointed S N Lahiri as Head - Equities, Shriram Ramanathan as Head - Fixed Income and has enhanced its research team in order to increase coverage.

"Over the last few months, we focused on a seamless transition and adding high quality talent to our investments team and other areas," L&T Finance Holdings President & Wholetime Director N Sivaraman said.

The new entity will answer different customer needs with a range of investment options spanning 25 funds across asset classes, risk profiles and time horizons.

In March, L&T Finance had announced that it will take over the mutual fund business of Fidelity of its India operations. But, it did not disclose the financial details.

L&T Finance is a part of engineering conglomerate L&T Group and Fidelity Mutual Fund is part of the US-based Fidelity Worldwide Investment.