Ambit RSM merges tax practice with PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Indian accounting firm Ambit RSM Private Limited and global accounting major PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are merging to form India’s largest accounting firm with a total staff strength of around 4000 people. The deal size has not been disclosed. RSM Advisory Services Private Limited, the taxation advisory arm of Ambit RSM Private Limited, would merge with PwC’s tax practice effective April 1; the combined operations would be under the common brand of PwC. RSM managing partner Ashok Wadhwa will not join the combined firm and will continue to manage the Ambit group of businesses. The Ambit Group comprises of Ambit Corporate Finance, Ambit Capital and the new joint ventures of Ambit with TV18 and Centurion Bank of Punjab for online broking and with Nikko Asset Management for asset management business in India. Current revenues of PwC are at about Rs. 650 crores and would scale up to Rs. 800-900 crores post-merger. RSM has some large clients such as General Electric, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Sony, British Airways, Bayer Group, Visa, Dell Computer, and in India companies from the Tata Group.

Read the article in The Economic Times.
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Shinsei Bank to set up mutual fund business in India

Another Japanese firm is planning to enter the asset management business in India. Shinsei Bank is reportedly forming an asset management JV with the South-based Andhra Bank. This is the second such announcement by a Japanese financial services company – earlier Nikko AMC had announced a similar kind of JV with the Ambit group. Shinsei will have a majority stake in the business. Shinsei had previouslyannounced a tie-up with UTI MF to invest $300 mn, raised from Japanese investors, in the Indian stock markets. Of late, many foreign funds such as Japan’s Mitsui, Korea’s Mirae, UBS, Aviva, Pioneer, etc. are planning to enter the Indian mutual fund space.

Read Business Standard for more details.

Nikko, Ambit form AMC JV

Japan-headquartered Nikko and the Ambit group have agreed to form an asset management joint venture in India. Nikko Asset Management has assets of about $90.7 bn under management. It has been an active participant in the offshore Indian asset management market for over a decade now and was one of the earlier foreign institutional investors in India via the group’s regional base in Singapore. Since 2004, Nikko Asset Management has invested in additional offshore infrastructure, most notably by establishing a regulated group company in Mauritius and a dedicated India fund management team in Singapore that has enabled the group to expand its Indian investment management capacity rapidly, in particular by facilitating the successful launch of the Nikko BRICs Equity Fund in March 2006.

Ambit is one of the leading financial services group in India. Its primary interests lie in investment banking, private equity, stock broking and consulting. It was established in Mumbai as a boutique investment bank in 1997 by Managing Director Ashok Wadhwa, a former Managing Partner of Arthur Andersen in India.

With respect to the deal, Nikko intends to acquire a 74.9% of the JV while Ambit will hold the remaining portion. The two firms have already agreed to many of the key terms of their cooperation and anticipate entering into a definitive agreement in early 2007. The JV plans to commence the formal licensing process with the Indian financial regulators and plans to beef up infrastructure in anticipation of the formal launch of investment activities.

Ambit has just recently announced a JV with TV18 and the Centurion Bank of Punjab for providing an online broking platform to retail clients.

Credit Suisse, UBS, Aviva, Korea`s Mirae Asset, AXA (with the Bharti group) and Pioneer, are some of the other big-ticket names that are planning to enter the booming Indian mutual fund business.

Read the article from domain-b.com.

Read the article from myiris.com.