<div>Prudential Financial Inc's Pramerica Investment Management is buying Deutsche Asset Management's Indian unit for an undisclosed sum, betting on a revival of India's mutual fund industry.</div><div> </div><div>Asset managers in India have struggled for years with high redemptions after the financial crisis, hurting profitability.</div><div> </div><div>While Deutsche Bank's sale of its Indian Asset Management business marks the latest foreign asset manager to exit the country, a recent surge in the stock market suggests fund inflows are coming back.</div><div> </div><div>Net inflows into equity mutual funds reached $2 billion in June, the second-highest monthly additions since January 2008.</div><div> </div><div>The Deutsche deal will help Pramerica Asset Managers Pvt Ltd, which runs its fund management business in a joint venture with local partner Dewan Housing Finance Corporation add assets under management of 207.20 billion rupees ($3.25 billion), nearly 10 times its current book of 21 billion rupees.</div><div> </div><div>Deutsche, which set up its asset management business in India in 2003, said it was divesting the asset management unit to focus on its core business.</div><div> </div><div>Deutsche's exit is the latest among a series of foreign firms to quit India's highly-competitive fund industry.</div><div> </div><div>Last year, Kotak Mahindra Bank bought PineBridge Mutual Fund's Indian schemes, while Morgan Stanley sold its asset management unit to HDFC in 2014. Other high-profile exits include Japan's Daiwa Asset Management and Fidelity Worldwide.</div><div> </div><div>(Reuters)</div>
