Sify sells its brokerage JV with MF Global to PhillipCapital

Sify Technologies has sold its entire stake in the brokerage MF Global Sify Securities India to Singapore-based PhillipCapital Group in an all-cash deal.

The Nasdaq-listed Sify and its partner in the venture, the bankrupt American company MF Global, have entered into an agreement with PhillipCapital under which the Singaporean financial services firm will hold a majority stake, Sify said in a statement.

Sify, which reportedly held around 30 per cent in the venture, will be selling its entire stake as part of the deal, it added.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The Mumbai-headquartered MF Global Sify Securities is among the top 10 equity and commodity brokerage firms in the country.

MF Global India had been reportedly on the block ever since MF Global Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last October in US, to become the biggest securities firm after Lehman Brothers to go bust.

Bets placed on European sovereign debts reportedly led the company to file for bankruptcy.

Its Indian operations were largely unaffected. A report published today quoted a source as saying that PhillipCapital has agreed to retain all the 350-odd employees of the firm.

PhillipCapital offers a full range of financial services to retail, corporate and institutional clients in 13 countries.