E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation (NYSE: ET), through its indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary E*TRADE Mauritius Limited, today announced it has increased its ownership stake in IL&FS Investsmart Limited (Investsmart).
With the increased investment, the two companies' operational partnership will expand global trading opportunities for retail and institutional customers, providing access to the broad range of products offered by the respective parties. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Our partnership with Investsmart will be a true two-way global relationship that provides Indian investors with access to US market equities trading and further expands the market opportunities for E*TRADE FINANCIAL's global customer base," said R. Jarrett Lilien, President and Chief Operating Officer, E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation.
To rapidly leverage the operational expertise of E*TRADE FINANCIAL, Investsmart will appoint a member of E*TRADE FINANCIAL's executive management team as CEO Designate of Investsmart, subject to completion of necessary formalities of statutory requirements and obtaining necessary approvals from SEBI, the Exchanges and Government of India. The executive will replace outgoing Investsmart Managing Director & CEO Hemang Raja, who will become a non-executive director on the Investsmart Board of Directors. The Investsmart Board of Directors is also in the process of adding three additional board seats to be filled by members of the company's existing management team, ensuring continuity of management and strategy.
E*TRADE FINANCIAL also anticipates supplementing investment resources with experienced personnel to expedite the benefits from the technology and other global opportunities that will be leveraged through the partnership.
"E*TRADE FINANCIAL has proven an ideal partner and has helped increase the presence of Investsmart at home and abroad," said Ravi Parthasarathy, Chairman, IL&FS Investsmart Ltd. "E*TRADE's investment will enable us to leverage their technology and operations expertise to achieve the efficiency and growth inherent in an electronic global trading platform."
E*TRADE FINANCIAL's original investment in Investsmart was made in 2004.