What is Groww’s endgame?

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Editor's note: So, the new unicorn in town is shaking things up in the fintech space. Groww, the Bengaluru-based mutual fund platform, has decided to enter the big leagues with the announcement of acquiring an asset management company, or AMC in mutual fund parlance. It has entered into a definitive agreement with Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd to acquire the mutual fund business of its subsidiaries Indiabulls Asset Management Co. Ltd and Indiabulls Trustee Co. Ltd, the trustee of the AMC, for Rs 175 crore (of which Rs 100 crore is in cash). Let us leave the technicalities and the value of the acquisition for some other day, but this development is interesting on several fronts. If this acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, goes through in another two to three months, Groww will probably be the first fintech company to enter the Rs 32 lakh crore asset management space. Rival Zerodha, and the market leader in stockbroking and online mutual fund sales, has also applied for its own AMC licence. Zerodha is yet to get the final approval and it might …