SBI Mutual Fund IPO slated for this year; gears to raise $1 billion

The State Bank of India (SBI) Mutual fund is reportedly preparing for an IPO this year. The country's largest lender will kick off the IPO process of its mutual fund joint venture in the next few months after asking investment banks for proposals and holding discussions with its board and shareholder Amundi Asset Management, Bloomberg agency reported on Friday.

SBI Mutual Fund, whose current value is around $7 billion, could raise about $1 billion from the public offering, the news report added. With this, the fund's listing would join UTI Asset Management Co. and HDFC Asset Management Co. to be listed in the Indian market. This would be the third such listing in the country.

The first-time share sale at $1 billion could be India's biggest since the $1.4 billion listing by SBI Cards & Payment Services Ltd. in March 2020.

The SBI Mutual fund's IPO is part of its strategy to derive more value from its units after divesting some of its stakes in its life insurance and cards business last year.

SBI's mutual fund is the largest in India with Rs 5 lakh crore ($68.4 billion) of assets under management, according to its website. The fund house posted a net income of Rs 498 crore for the April-December period, according to an investor presentation. SBI holds a 63 per cent stake in the mutual fund business, while Paris-based Amundi owns the rest.

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