SBICap eyes more stake in Investec, says CEO Mehta

MUMBAI: SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBICap) will look to raise its stake in financial services firm Investec Capital Services (India) Pvt. Ltd if the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permits, chief executive Arun Mehta said.

SBICap, a unit of India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), recently bought an undisclosed stake in the Indian franchisee of Investec Investments (UK) Ltd. “Investec has more than adequate relationships, and that has given us the required edge in institutional sales. Being a subsidiary of SBI gives us an edge in origination of the mandates, as the brand value and trust in the brand impact us positively, even though we have to do things at an arm’s length,” Mehta said in an interview.

He said SBICap has the necessary expertise on the execution side of the business as well.

According to Mehta, the tie-up takes care of one key constraint SBICap was facing— institutional sales of equity capital market business.

“The tie-up with the Investec team takes care of institutional sales, a very important requirement for the company and creates a win-win for joint venture partners. We have seen this impact in our recent equity capital market mandates,” he added. “We were trying to set it up internally, but in three years, we realized it is quicker and more efficient to go for a tie-up with an established player.”

Investec India supports midmarket entrepreneurs, corporates and private equity firms and provides analysis for investors interested in Indian equities, its website says.