Religare gets regulatory nod for Hitchens acquisition

New Delhi, May 15 (UNI) Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) today said its UK arm, Religare Capital Markets International (UK) Ltd (RCML), has received approval from United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority (FSA) for acquiring Hichens Harrison and Co Plc.

The acquisition of Hichens will allow RCML to create an international distribution network for Religare's domestic institutional business, a company statement said.

It will provide Religare the opportunity, as an integrated Indian financial services group, to service the needs of Indian corporates through its large global network and provide small and medium Indian corporates with access to capital, it added.

RCML, the wholly-owned subsidiary of REL, the holding company for financial services businesses of the group had last month announced its decision to make an open offer to Hichens. The offer was at 285 pence per share cash and valued at about 55.5 million pounds.

UNI SR MP KN2110