Bank of India is acquiring 51% in Bharti AXA Investment Managers, part of AXA Group. According to the deal structure, BOI will acquire 51% of the equity and the balance will be with AXA Group. Post regulatory approval, the bank will acquire 25% stake from Bharti Enterprises and 26% from the Axa Investment Managers Asia Holdings.

Following the stake transfer the name of the fund house will be changed to Bank of India AXA Investment Managers.

Ernst & Young advised BoI on the transaction.

Bharati Axa Investment Managers was started in 2007 as 25:75 JV with AXA Group. Bharti entered the JV through Bharti Ventures Ltd while AXA Investment Managers and AXA APH (through NMIPL) represented the AXA Group.

Bharti has been scouting for buyers for it's mutual fund business since 2010. It is also planning to sell its 74% stakes in two insurance joint ventures with Axa. It was talking to Reliance for the potential stake sale, but the deal has been called off.

Headquartered in France, AXA IM is a European-based asset managers with approximately Euro 514 bn in assets under management (AUM) as at the end of September 2011.AXA IM employs more than 2 400 employees, operate in 30 cities across 23 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East.

This deal will mark the re-entry of Bank of India in the 41 member Mutual Fund Industry six years after scrapping its solo venture. BoI started a MF business in 1990 and launched six schemes. It redeemed four of them and transferred two to Taurus Mutual Fund after offering an exit option to investors by 2004.

BoI started scouting for partners for re-entering the MF business late last year. It was talking to a number of foreign players including Axa Group and US-based Prudential Financial Inc.

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