New Delhi, Dec 14: Aditya Birla group-owned Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company today said it will launch the 'Birla Sun Life Special Situations Fund' on December 17, which will invest in 'special situations' and contrarian opportunities in the stock market.

About 80 per cent of the collected money under the fund will be invested in equity and the rest in debt. The fund will invest in businesses that are candidates for mergers and acquisitions (M&As), private equity (PE) deals, open offers, delisting and buy backs. ''The fund will be a research-based fund which will invest in companies looking to increase their intrinsic value,'' said company CEO Mukul Gupta.

The fund closes for subscription on January 15 and minimum subscription of Rs 5,000.

According to the company, the numbers of special situations stand testimony to this. There was a 180 per cent increase in FDI year on year in 2006-07 from 5.6 billion dollars to 15.7 billion dollars.

M&A and PE deals saw an increase of 67 per cent in number terms (467-782) and 54 per cent in terms of value (Rs 73,200-Rs 1,12,800 crores) in 2006.


UNI