Equirus bets big on wealth management biz

Mid-market Investment Banking Firm Equirus Capital is creating a robust platform with people, processes and technology for its wealth management business.

“We will be in investment mode for our wealth business. With Federal Bank as a strategic partner, Equirus can leverage on its extensive network and client base to provide the desired wealth management services. We will also depend on some of their processes and inputs on systems,” said Ajit Deshmukh, MD and Head of Investment Banking, Equirus Capital.

Recently, Federal Bank acquired a 26% stake in Equirus Capital. The bank had said that the strategic tie-up would help shore up non interest earnings for the bank while creating additional revenue streams with identified clients.

Equirus will see more traction coming from Capital market and M&A activity. “Equity markets will be the drivers for Institutional Equities and PMS (Portfolio Management Services) business,” he said.

With an employee strength of over 100, the company has done more than 135 transactions across M&A, PE, IPOs, QIPs and Structure Finance, raising more than $4.1 billion. “M&A transactions in the IT, infrastructure and financial services space have so far dominated the transaction activity and this trend is likely to continue for the next 12 months. We see tech and BFSI leading in the coming 12 months,” Deshmukh added.

When asked what is driving M&A activity as several large transactions have been announced in the past one year, including the recent Walmart-Flipkart deal, Deshmukh said, favourable economic conditions, availability of credit, need for consolidation, widening customer base and product portfolio have been the key drivers for increased M&A deal activity in the last couple of years.

“Technological disruptions have also emerged as one of the major trends driving M&A activity,” he added.