Federal Bank, one of the domestic partners in IDBI Federal Life Insurance, today said Europe’s Ageas may hike stake in the insurance company to 49 per cent.
The domestic partners —— IDBI Bank and Federal Bank—— are exploring the option of diluting their stake in the life insurance venture.
“Evaluation is going on. An independent third party agency is doing that. All aspects are being looked at for dilution of stake in favour of our foreign partner so that Ageas could increase its stake up to 49 per cent,” Federal Bank CEO and Managing Director Shyam Srinivasan told PTI.
However, he said, it is at very preliminary stage and nothing has been finalised and many things are to be looked at before reaching a decision.
The company, which started its operation in 2008, is a joint venture of IDBI Bank, Federal Bank and Ageas, with shareholding of 48 per cent, 26 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.
Many companies have started the process of diluting stake in favour of their foreign partner as Parliament in March passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which seeks to increase foreign investment in private sector companies to 49 per cent from the existing 26 per cent, among other things.