Blackstone-backed ASK Asset & Wealth Management is actively pursuing acquisitions in both the wealth management as well as asset management segments to boost its assets under management and its client base, a top official said.
On the wealth side, the firm is looking at potential targets with assets of ₹40,000-80,000 crore, while in the mutual fund segment, it is looking at anything above ₹25,000-30,000 crore of assets under management. “We could go even higher, but the bare minimum is ₹30,000 crore,” Co-founder and CEO, MD of ASK Private Wealth, Rajesh Saluja told businessline.
“We are happy to look at bigger mutual funds also.”
Saluja said the firm, which manages over ₹79,000 crore of assets, had evaluated potential acquisition opportunities in the recent past, but in the wealth business, the valuations were too pricey. “We were actively looking at it, but the valuations were not worth it.” At that point, the markets had run up quite a bit, and expectations were high. Over the past few months, however, the markets have cooled down, “so let’s see what’s available.”
The firm is set to enter the mutual fund sector soon. Saluja said that here too it had been evaluating an acquisition, but “there again someone quoted much higher than us.”
Valuations
Apart from adding value the pricing of the acquisition should be in the region of 18-20 times earnings, said Saluja. He pointed out that due to the rally in the stock markets over the past few years, companies in the wealth management and asset management segments were quoting at 40-60 times earnings.
“A good reasonable price to buy, where there is value.”
The reason for an acquisition would be to add more clients and relationship managers, “which is always the single biggest challenge to growth,” Saluja said. He said scaling up, through the organic route, usually took 2-3 years. “If I get a good firm that has clients and RMs, then you hit the floor running from day one,” he said.
The wealth management business in India has seen some consolidation of late. Recently 360 ONE Wealth and Asset Management acquired Batlivala & Karani Securities for ₹1,884 crore in a cash and stock deal.
India’s wealth management industry is seen growing to $2.3 trillion in FY29 from $1.1 trillion in FY24. The mutual fund industry has over Rs 67 lakh crore of AUM and attracting new players.