Vistra expands into India with ITCL acquisition
Vistra Group, the corporate services, trust, fiduciary and fund administration services provider now based in Hong Kong, said today that it is to acquire India’s IL&FS Trust Company Ltd.
It didn’t say how much it’s paying for Mumbai-based ITCL, which it says is the largest independent Corporate Trust Services provider in India, with head office in Mumbai. The deal has already been approved by India’s regulators, Vistra said.
ITCL was founded in 1995, and is being sold by IL&FS Group, one of India’s leading infrastructure development & financial services groups, of which it is a subsidiary, Vistra said in a statement announcing the deal.
In addition to its head office in Mumbai, ITCL has offices New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore.
S Trust Navita Yadav, chief executive of IL&FCo Ltd, will stay on as managing director of ITCL, Vistra said.
Indian-market compliant
One of ITCL’s attractions for Vistra is that it is already set up to conform with India’s regulations. For example, Indian bond and debenture issuers are required to appoint independent trustees in order to “safeguard the interests of investors”, Vistra noted.
ITCL, which is registered by the Securities Exchange Board of India as a licenced trustee, caters “to full range of debt market issuances including debentures [and] bonds as well as deposits, term loans, external commercial borrowings and private equity/alternative investment funds”, Vistra said, and “has significant market share in the area of debenture trusteeship and alternative investment funds”.
It said ITCL had been an “innovator” in bringing fiduciary services to business trusts, structured finance transactions and alternative investment funds in India.
As reported, Vistra announced in February that it is to acquire the Reading, England-based business expansion services provider Nortons Group.
In the Vistra statement, ITCL CEO Yadav noted that Vistra “shares the same values we do”, and said it had “exceeded our hopes for a firm [that] we can combine with”.
“Vistra offers us the opportunity to keep growing with a wealth of global locations and resources to back us up,” she added.
“Our modus operandi and people remain the same, and it will be business as usual for all our employees, clients and [the] ITCL management team. We look forward to our collaboration.”
Vistra, which dates back to a 2006 buy-in of the fiduciary and trust business of Chiltern in London and Jersey by the former top management team of Fortis Intertrust, was acquired by Baring Private Equity Asia last year. Baring Asia subsequently acquired another global fund administration and corporate services firm, Orangefield Group, and is in the process of merging the two businesses.
In February, Vistra said that the completion of its deal to acquire Nortons would see it employing more than 2,200 staff in 39 countries.
