By Suvashree Ghosh and Baiju Kalesh
State Bank of India and Amundi Asset Management plan to offload a combined 10% stake in their Indian mutual fund joint venture, extending a record year for listings in the South Asian nation.
State Bank, India’s largest lender, aims to sell a 6% stake in SBI Funds Management Pvt., and Amundi 4%, the firms said in separate filings Wednesday. The IPO will seek to raise about $1 billion (Rs 7,600 crore), according to people with knowledge of the matter, unchanged from when Bloomberg News had first reported the planned transaction in February.
With more than Rs 6 lakh crore ($79 billion) of assets end-September, SBI Funds is India’s biggest asset manager and reports the highest profit among State Bank’s unlisted units. Indian firms have raised more than $15 billion through IPOs this year, a record for the nation that has seen its main stock index rally 20% in one of Asia’s best performances.
State Bank owns 63% of SBI Funds and Amundi holds the rest. The listing may happen early in the next financial year starting April, the people said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private.
“The IPO would be achieved on the Indian stock market in 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions,” Amundi said in its filing. State Bank and SBI Funds didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
The mutual fund’s IPO process was delayed by the deadly coronavirus wave that struck India in March, which hampered in-office operations, one of the people said, adding that final decisions on timing and valuation will be taken after underwriters are appointed.
--With assistance from Jeanette Rodrigues.
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