SBI MF gears for mega IPO launch, may raise up to $1 billion

India's largest mutual fund house, SBI Mutual Fund, which clocked a monthly average assets under management (AUM) of Rs 6.2 lakh crore as of December 2021, has picked a syndicate of seven investment banks as it gears up to launch a mega IPO and raise up to $1 billion, multiple sources said.

The move comes on the back of healthy inflows of Rs 14,887 crore into equity mutual funds in January with the contribution of monthly systematic investment plans (SIPs) to mutual funds at Rs 11,517 crore for the month.

"SBI considers SBI MF as a jewel in its crown and is looking to unlock value via the listing. The proposed IPO is likely to be entirely a secondary sale of shares with SBI looking to sell 6 percent and Amundi looking to sell 4 percent," said one of the persons cited above. SBI MF is a joint venture between SBI and leading French insurer Amundi Asset Management.

If the listing plans of SBI Mutual Fund fructify, it will become the fifth domestic mutual fund player to make a Dalal Street debut. HDFC Asset Management, UTI Asset Management Company, Nippon Life India Asset Management and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC are the other listed peers. The last IPO from the SBI stable was from SBI Cards & Payment Services, which launched in March 2020, just before the outbreak of COVID-19 and raised around Rs 10,354 crore.