Edelweiss ramps up mutual fund biz, to now acquire Ambit Alpha Fund for undisclosed sum

New Delhi: Financial services firm Edelweiss Thursday said one of its group firms will acquire Ambit Alpha Fund for an disclosed sum.  “An Edelweiss group entity has agreed to acquire Ambit Alpha Fund, a category III Alternate Investment Fund with an AUM of over Rs 1,100 crore, and will be its new investment manager,” the company said in a BSE filing. Edelweiss Group Chairman & CEO Rashesh Shah said: “We are seeing the financial savings of Indian investors shifting from hard assets like gold and real estate to financial instruments. This movement presents exciting opportunities in the rapidly growing asset management space. Ambit Alpha Fund is one of the market leading Alternate Investment Funds in the country and allows us to consolidate our market position in this business.” This is the second acquisition of Edelweiss Group in 2016. In March this year, Edelweiss Asset Management announced acquisition of JP Morgan’s mutual fund business in India, which has assets of over Rs 7,000 crore, making the American fund house the 11th foreign major to exit the over Rs 13 lakh crore industry in the last eight years. “The acquisition will further strengthen Edelweiss Group’s Rs 35,000 crore Global Assets Management (GAM) business which includes the existing mutual funds, alternative assets management, multi strategy funds and asset reconstruction,” it added. The transaction is subject to due diligence and requisite regulatory approvals.