Friday 30 October 2015

Fairfax to buy 9% in ICICI Lombard

ICICI Bank's board on Friday approved sale of 9% stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance to its Canadian partner Fairfax Financial Holdings (promoter of Lombard) for Rs 1,550 crore, valuing the company at Rs 17,225 crore Stock Market Trading Tips

Following the stake sale, the shareholding of ICICI Bank and Fairfax will be approximately 64% and 35% respectively. ICICI Lombard is the largest private non-life company in India and the transaction is likely to serve as a benchmark for other valuations. 

The gross written premium of ICICI Lombard rose 22% from Rs 1,638 crore in Q2FY15 to Rs 1,999 crore in Q2FY16. The company reported a net profit of Rs 143 crore in the second quarter compared to Rs 158 crore in the corresponding quarter last year and Rs 116 crore in the preceding quarter. 

Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank, said that the transaction is at a very good value and reflects the leadership position, strong franchise and growth potential Himanshu Tiwari Astrologer Blog

"We are expecting that the transaction will get completed in the fourth quarter because now we will start the process of obtaining approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and Foreign Investment Promotion Board," said Kochhar. 

According to her, unlike other insurance JV agreements, there was no pre-agreed deal to allow Fairfax to hike stake. 

"Our JV was for 74-26% only. The fact that they are increasing their stake by 9% shows that they are seeing potential in the market," Kochhar said Indian stock market astrology prediction

Responding to a query on whether the bank would now look at diluting its stake in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Kochhar said, "We have continuously said that we will look at monetizing and that approach stays. Beyond that, I am not in a position to say anything." 

Following conditions in the new legislation that insurance joint ventures should be Indian-managed and have majority representations of the Indian partner on the board, many insurance promoters have been reworking their JVs. Although most agreements gave the foreign partner right to hike shareholding up to 49%, many partners are not as keen now as they will have reduced clout Jackpot Stocks Trading Tips

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