Reliance Capital is not in a hurry to list its insurance subsidiaries, Chairman Anil Ambani indicated at the company’s annual general meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Reliance Home Fin listingThis observation came as a response to shareholder queries on the listing of Reliance Home Finance, a lending subsidiary of Reliance Capital, which is being hived off from the parent business into a new company.
According to the proposal, 49 per cent stake in RHF will be allotted to all shareholders of Reliance Capital, in the ratio of one share free of cost in RHF for every one share held in Reliance Capital. The company aims to complete the listing process by April 2017.
“Like we’re listing Reliance Home Finance, we will look at listing other subsidiaries at an appropriate stage when we have the ability to look at listing the commercial finance, general insurance and life insurance, so on and so forth,” Ambani said.
“But they will have to be specifically examined; the time, the period, the capital holding structure, the value to shareholders,” he added. “We have to take a balanced approach and ensure that whatever we do is in the interest of the long-term shareholders and stakeholders, and not be a flash in the pan.”
No to copycat approachEarlier this month, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance raised ₹6,000 crore in the primary market during its initial public share sale. “Just because an IPO succeeded in a particular sector, we should not have to do the same: that is not what my late father Dhirubhai Ambani taught me,” Ambani added.
At the meeting, Ambani voiced his disapproval of the insurance regulator’s plans to make listing mandatory for such companies. “At the moment, it is not made mandatory by the regulator to list general or life insurance companies. Our approach is that we should do what is right for the growth of shareholders and we believe that a mandatory listing is not desirable.
“Optional listing is desirable... and companies will decide when to list, at an appropriate stage,” Ambani concluded.
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