BLACKROCK EXITS INDIA MF BUSINESS

MUMBAI: Blackrock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, said on Monday it will sell its 40% stake in DSP Blackrock Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd to joint venture partner DSP Group, marking the exit of yet another foreign asset manager from the Indian mutual fund industry.

While the financial details of the deal were not disclosed, two people familiar with the transaction said DSP Blackrock Investment Managers is valued at around ₹5,000 crore.

“DSP Blackrock has total assets worth around ₹1.1 lakh crore, which includes mutual funds, alternative investment funds (AIFS) and assets under advisory services,” said one of the persons mentioned above.

“As of now, Blackrock is exiting the JV. Blackrock has been in talks with DSP for about a year and initially they were interested to buy DSP’S 60% stake. DSP rather chose the option of retaining its footprint in India,” he added.

Us-based Blackrock is the biggest asset manager in the world and, as of March 31, the firm managed around $6.32 trillion in assets worldwide. DSP BlackRock manages assets worth ₹35,000 crore across 12 equity mutual fund schemes and ₹50,000 crore in fixed income schemes. The rest of the assets are in AIFS and under advisory services. DSP Blackrock had average assets under management (AUMS) of ₹86,000 crore as March, according to data from Association of Mutual Funds in India.