The Aditya Birla group, led by Kumar Mangalam Birla, has taken charge of its mutual fund joint venture with Sun Life Financial of Canada by buying 1 per cent stake from the latter.
The Birlas will now own 51 per cent stake in Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co Ltd and Sun Life will be left with 49 per cent.
When contacted, Sushil Agarwal, whole-time director and CFO of Aditya Birla Nuvo, said: "The Aditya Birla group has acquired an additional 1 per cent stake in Birla Sun Life AMC. The AMC now becomes a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Nuvo. Our partnership with Sun Life remains very strong and both Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life are committed to grow the asset management business in India."
An email to Sun Life did not elicit any response till the time of going to press.
The equity structure of the Birla group's second joint venture with Sun Life Financial in the insurance sector will continue as usual at 74 per cent with the Indian promoter.
The Canadian company will raise its stake as and when the government permits higher stakes for foreign companies in the insurance sector, sources familiar with the developments say.
Sun Life had the option of increasing stake in the insurance company since the JV was set up 12 years ago.
The Birlas and Sun Life had set up the mutual fund venture in 1994. Since then, it has grown into one of India's leading mutual fund companies, with assets under management of Rs 72,900 crore (Rs 729 billion) as of September this year, growing at an annual rate of 8.5