U.S private equity firm Carlyle Group and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC plan to team up on a Rs 5,200 crore (US $742 million) deal that will see the companies take a 10% stake in Indian insurer SBI Life Insurance Co.
SBI Life Insurance was formed in 2001 as a joint venture between French insurer BNP Paribas Cardif and state-run lender SBI, and currently has more than 12,000 employees and an agent network of nearly 100,000.
It was previously reported that Carlyle had been competing with peers such as KKR and Temasek to acquire SBI shares from BNP Paribas, which is looking to reduce its holding in the company to meet regulatory terms for a public float.
Carlyle and GIC intend to buy shares at Rs 510-520 (US $7.33-$7.47) apiece, which represents a 9.2% discount to SBI Life’s Wednesday closing price, according to sources at The Economic Times of India.
The investment process, which is being managed by BNP Paribas, Kotak Mahindra Capital and Citigroup, now awaits approval from India’s regulatory body, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda).
SBI Life went public last year, raising up to Rs 8,400 crore. The insurer also increased its net profit from Rs 954.65 crore to Rs 1,150.38 crore over the 2017-18 financial year and grew its total income from 30,276.42 crore to 33,760.54 crore.
In December 2016, KKR and Temasek purchased a 3.9% stake in SBI Life for Rs 1,794 crore (US $258 million) through a pre-IPO placement of shares.
