Mumbai, Oct. 24: BNP Paribas Asset Management of France will acquire a 49.90 per cent stake in Sundaram Asset Management Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sundaram Finance, for Rs 100.38 crore.

The joint venture will be named Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management Company.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2006, a joint press statement said. Sundaram has over Rs 2,800 crore in assets under management.

?The joint venture will combine the strength of the Sundaram Finance brand, the national retail reach and investment management skills of Sundaram Asset Management with the international product expertise and global network of BNP Paribas,? S. Viji, chairman of Sundaram Finance, said.

Sundaram Finance is in the financial services space for over 50 years now and is touted as one of the largest retail financial services players in India with assets exceeding Rs 4,600 crore.

?We believe the Indian market is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing ones in the world. It has already shown substantial growth and has potential for much more,? said Gilles Glicenstein, chairman of BNP Paribas.

BNP?s presence in India dates back to 1860. It has a network of branches covering eight cities. BNP Paribas offers Indian high net-worth investors specialised services and has a 26 per cent stake in a life insurance joint venture with the State Bank of India.

Three years back, the Chennai-based Sundaram Asset Management severed ties with UK?s Newton Investment Management. Analysts say BNP Paribas will have better products to put on the table, even as global investment banking giants eye the Indian wealth management market, estimated at Rs 45,000 crore, and pension funds, which are about half of that at Rs 25,000 crore.

?With this joint venture, we are well positioned to build on the already strong platform that has been established by Sundaram Asset Management. We believe this partnership will put the company on a faster growth path,? Viji added.

The Indian mutual fund industry, though till nascent, has seen consolidation in the past two to three years. Principal Inc acquired Sun F &C and Franklin Templeton acquired Kothari Pioneer Mutual Fund. The last bulge-bracket consolidation happened when Birla Sun life Mutual Fund acquired troubled Alliance Mutual Fund.

BNP Paribas has experience in operating in emerging countries with successful ventures in Brazil, China, Korea, Turkey, Argentina and Morocco. Sundaram Asset Management provides a wide range of investment management products to a variety of corporate and retail customers.