Essel Group buys Peerless MF

The Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel Group has forayed into the ~16 lakh-crore asset management space by acquiring Peerless Fund Management. This is the second acquisition of a fund house this year, after Edelweiss Mutual Fund acquired JP Morgan MF in March.

Peerless MF, owned by the Kolkatabased Peerless Group, has assets under management (AUM) of ~971 crore, and equity AUM of ~170 crore.

The deal size wasn’t disclosed but sectoral sources estimated it at two to four per cent of Peerless MF’s total AUM.

“The acquisition is part of our strategy to become a financial services conglomerate. The addition of the mutual fund business will fortify our position and take us closer to our goals,” said Amitabh Chaturvedi, managing director of Essel Finance Management.

Peerless MF is one of the smallest fund houses and has been trying to increase its asset size. It was among the first to opt for a trail-based commission for distributors, much ahead of the regulations mandating this.

Sources had indicated the Peerless promoters were scouting for buyers for some time, as they didn’t wish to continue in the MF business. The existing team at Peerless MF will remain. Currently, Peerless offers nine schemes, of which three are in the equity category. These are a multi-cap equity fund, a tax plan and a mid-cap scheme.