Mumbai, Aug 11: The Sebi order barring star fund manager Samir Arora from the capital markets strongly criticises the part played by Arora during the period when Alliance Capital attempted to sell its asset management business in India at the end of ‘02. It says that Arora tried to manipulate the bidding process in order to ensure that he, along with private equity fund Henderson, managed to bag the deal. The order alleges that Arora stood to gain by as much as Rs 30 crore if his bid succeeded.

“It was found in the investigation that Shri Arora played a pivotal role in thwarting the plan to sell the stake...which contributed by and large to the fall of approximately Rs 1,300 crore in the assets under management and also inflicted loss on the investors,” the order issued by Sebi board member TM Nagarajan alleges.
Alliance initiated the process of trying to sell its Indian mutual fund business in October ‘02. The sale was abandoned in February ‘03. Arora, when contacted in Singapore, said that he had done nothing against the interest of unitholders.
Arora will appear before Sebi for a personal hearing on August 28. If the final Sebi order goes against him, he has the option of approaching the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT). Bureau Report