IIFL Wealth Management Ltd said on Wednesday it has agreed to acquire the wealth management arm of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd to enhance its offerings to individual and institutional clients.
The acquisition of L&T Capital Markets Ltd is likely to strengthen IIFL Wealth’s platform for serving high net-worth and ultra-high-worth families, the unit of IIFL Holdings Ltd said in a statement.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, IIFL Wealth said. The company is acquiring L&T Capital for Rs 230 crore, plus cash and cash equivalent, it said.
Karan Bhagat, founder, managing director and CEO, IIFL Wealth Management, said that the acquisition will bring product innovation, geographical spread, and client assets of more than Rs 24,000 crore to the company.
Following the divestment of the wealth management division, L&T Finance Holdings will continue to focus on its growth in businesses which can create value for all stakeholders, said Dinanath Dubhashi, managing director and CEO, L&T Finance Holdings.
IIFL Wealth’s acquisitions
Launched in 2008, IIFL Wealth was earlier known for offering wealth management services, besides managing real estate private equity funds and hedge funds. However, it has been slowly pushing up the alternative investment practice. Over the past year, it has focussed on raising a large corpus for pre-IPO investments. It also has a seed fund.
The fund has been making acquisitions. In September last year, it agreed to buy Bengaluru-based fintech firm Altiore Capital for Rs 9.2 crore. The following month, the company said it would acquire Chennai-based wealth management company Wealth Advisors India Pvt. Ltd for Rs 253.6 crore.
In December 2017, it acquired Ashburton India Equity Opportunities for an undisclosed amount. In 2014, it had acquired small homegrown PE firm India Alternatives. It exited India Alternatives by 2017.
In June last year, IIFL Wealth said it was raising Rs 745.71 crore (about $110 million) from a clutch of investors including Hong Kong-based Ward Ferry and existing private equity backer General Atlantic.
