BNP Paribas acquires Sharekhan

BNP Paribas is a French bank and financial services company with global headquarters in Paris. It was formed through the merger of BNP and Paribas in 2000. The Global financial services group has announced that it has acquired retail broking firm Sharekhan for more than Rs. 2,000 crore, one of the earliest brokerage houses in India.

The bank added that Sharekhan will join BNP Paribas personal investors division, which is engaged in retail brokerage and digital banking services with 1.7 Million clients in Europe. The deal has been under negotiation for close to six months and had seen interest from bulge bracket private equity firms like Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic. Domestic banks like IndusInd Bank Ltd too had expressed interest, but withdrew from the race.

Existing shareholder in Sharekhan include Citi Venture Capital International, Barings Asia Private Equity, IDFC and Samara Capital. Sharekhan is the first independent and third retail brokerage firm in India. Sharekhan will serve as a platform for the group strategy in India to offer a comprehensive range of products from pure brokerage to asset based investment services including mutual funds and savings products.

Sharekhan was incorporated in 1995 and started offering broking services to non-institutional clients in 2000. In 2007, CVCI, Samara Capital and IDFC Limited acquired about 75% stake in Sharekhan. The new investors acquired the stake owned by GA Global investments, HSBC Private Equity, and the Morakhias. In February 2008, Baring Private Equity Asia IV Mauritius Holdings bought 12% stake in Sharekhan.