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Johannesburg - India's Religare Enterprises said on Monday its investment banking arm Religare Capital Markets has acquired majority stake in the South African broking firm Noah Financial Innovation, sending its shares up nearly 5%.
The acquisition of Noah, which offers research services to the institutional investment community, will boost Religare's trading and research business in South Africa, it said in a statement to the exchange.
Noah offers tailored execution and independent research to the institutional investment community.
Recently, the Financial Times reported that Religare Capital Markets, backed by the Indian billionaire Singh family, was planning acquisitions in four developing countries as it seeks to become a global emerging markets investment bank.
In 2010 RCML acquired the UK and US operations of
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Holdings [JSE:BJM], both distribution platforms for South African equities in London and New York. RCML has since added research analysts who cover the South African banking, telecoms, media and mining sectors. South Africa is one of the markets RCML has identified as of key strategic importance and the Noah acquisition complements the existing team by providing a meaningful local presence.
Commenting on the acquisition Martin Newson, CEO, RCML said: "South Africa is now the fifth member of the Brics and it is no coincidence that RCML sees it as an integral part of our emerging markets investment banking platform, both in its own right and as a beachhead for our wider Africa banking ambitions. Combined with our successful acquisition of BJM's international operations in 2010 and subsequent hires, today's news means we're now well positioned to connect domestic and global investors to the South African opportunity whilst leveraging on our strengths within global emerging markets."
Raymond Ndlovu, chief executive of Noah, said: "RCML's purchase of Noah is an unprecedented milestone in the South African securities industry. It is the first time that a global firm has acquired a local brokerage business with substantive black economic empowerment (BEE) credentials. In addition, RCML's partnership with Noah's anchor BEE shareholder provides a unique combination of local relevance and international stature."