Advent Acquires Stake In MF Registrar For $90mn

Mumbai: Making its debut in India, the US-based private equity firm Advent International has infused $90 million in Chennai-based mutual fund registrar Computer Age Management Services (Cams). Advent acquired a minority stake in the company from Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC). The buyout and growth equity fund, which made the investment out of its $12 billion global capital pool, acquired the shares in the unlisted Indian registrar via a combination of primary (new share issuance) and secondary (stake held by HDFC) shares. The private equity deal was a hotly contested asset with top PE funds in the country bidding for the stake. The HDFC group currently holds 49 per cent stake and the rest is held by the promoter (V Shankar) of the company. The sources said the reason Advent International bagged the deal was because it understands the financial services space very well and earlier had an investment in one of the portfolio companies in Europe which had similar strengths like Cams. CAMS and Karvy Computershare are the major players in the registrar and transfer business. The PE is also actively building a direct investment capability in India. Cams will be utilising the funds for expanding its processing business both in India and aboard. Recently HDFC had exited Intelenet Global Services, a business process outsourcing (BPO) firm by selling their stake to private equity giant Blackstone. This year the financial services space was the most active sector which saw deals worth $ 2,418 million out of the total $3,105 million.