Mumbai, Sept. 27: Deutsche Asset Management Company is expected to bag the assets of Standard Chartered Mutual Fund in the country.

Industry sources say since Deutsche Asset Management already has a presence in the country, it will be easier for the fund house to close the deal with the necessary regulatory approvals.

The deal size is expected to be about Rs 750 crore, 5 per cent of Standard Chartered’s assets of Rs 15,551 crore as on August 31.

It is learnt that while the sale will be completed by October-end, the business will be transferred within three months.

Deutsche Asset Management Company and Morgan Stanley Investments, along with ING Investment Management, London-based Schroders, Swiss UBS and JP Morgan, had been shortlisted among the bidders.

While Lotus Asset Management, the joint venture between Temasek and Sabre Capital, and Reliance Capital were rumoured to be among the front-runners, they did not figure on the short list.

This could be one of the most expensive mutual fund sale in the country considering that equity constitutes less than 20 per cent of Standard Chartered’s assets.

In the latest acquisition in the industry, BNP Paribas had acquired a 49.9 per cent stake in Sundaram Mutual Fund for Rs 100 crore.

Sundaram Mutual Fund had assets worth Rs 2,779 crore, which pegged the valuation at 7.2 per cent. However, equity constituted 60 per cent of Sundaram’s assets.

Among the earlier deals, Societe Generale had picked up a 37 per cent stake in SBI Mutual Fund for Rs 175 crore, which meant a valuation of 7.7 per cent.

Franklin Templeton also paid Rs 268 crore or 7.1 per cent to acquire the total Rs 3,774-crore assets of Pioneer ITI.

A late entrant, Deutsche Mutual Fund has not been able to make a significant presence in the mutual fund space and managed assets worth Rs 6,742 crore at the end of August.

Analysts say while acquiring the assets of Standard Chartered Mutual Fund will substantially inflate the asset size of the fund house, the higher proportion of debt assets will take away much of the advantage.

The decision to exit the mutual fund business in the country is part of Standard Chartered Bank’s global strategy.

Globally, Standard Chartered is not into active fund management and its presence in the business in India is a result of its takeover of Grindlays Bank in the country.