Essel Finance Advisors and Managers Llp, the private equity arm of Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group, has agreed to acquire the mutual fund business of Kolkata-based financial services firm Peerless Group. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition is part of a strategy to become a financial services conglomerate, Essel Finance said in a statement on Thursday.

“The addition of the mutual fund business will fortify our position and take us closer to our goals,” Essel Finance managing director Amitabh Chaturvedi said.

Peerless Mutual Fund, a subsidiary of Peerless Funds Management Co. Ltd was incorporated in April 2009. At the end of the September quarter, Peerless Mutual Fund had assets under management worth Rs970.88 crore.

At present, Peerless Funds manages one liquid scheme, four fixed-income schemes, one hybrid scheme and three equity schemes, including an equity-linked savings scheme.

Essel Finance also offers a range of financial services and products such as business loans to small and medium enterprises through its non-banking financial company (NBFC), housing finance, foreign exchange, private equity, investment banking and distribution services.

It is the umbrella brand for the financial businesses of the $10 billion conglomerate Essel Group.

In November 2015, the group said that it was also looking to enter the affordable housing segment with plans to develop 10,000 houses next year, entailing an investment of Rs800 crore.

In the mutual fund industry, acquisitions are valued on the basis of the asset mix of a fund house, network strength, long-term earning prospects and profitability of the schemes sold.

Typically, the higher the amount of equity assets under management over the long term, the greater is the valuation.