Baltimore-based investment management firm, T Rowe Price, has completed the acquisition of a 26 per cent stake in UTI Asset Management, the Indian-based asset manager, for R6.5 billion (approx $142 billion).

T Rowe Price acquired the stake from the four original stockholders – State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Life Insurance Corporation of India – in equal shares, after ongoing talks with UTI since last February.

UTI is the fourth largest asset manager in India, serving more than ten million individual and institutional investor accounts in India and with $17.8 billion in average assets under management in as at December 2009.

UTI Asset Management manages the schemes for UTI Mutual Fund and Unit Trust of India, and is registered as a portfolio manager. It also has a wholly owned, Guernsey-based subsidiary, UTI International, which manages offshore funds and markets these abroad.

The acquisition marks a significant entrance into India’s investment management industry for the US firm.

"This provides T Rowe Price with an opportunity to participate directly in the tremendous growth potential of India's asset management industry. India's economic growth rate is second only to China's among large economies and its working-age population is expanding rapidly. The country's high savings rate and demographics favour strong growth in mutual fund investing over time,” said James Kennedy, chief executive officer and president of T Rowe Price.