SBI seeks to sell 10% stake in life insurance arm
31 Mar 2015
State Bank of India (SBI) today said it plans to divest up to a 10-per cent stake in its arm SBI Life Insurance.
''The executive committee of the central board has today authorised divestment of SBI's stake in SBI Life Insurance by up to 10 per cent,'' SBI said in a statement.
SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture between SBI and BNP Paribas Cardif of France. At present, SBI owns 74 per cent of the total capital and BNP Paribas has the remaining 26 per cent in the joint venture.
SBI Life Insurance has an authorised capital of Rs2,000 crore and a paid-up capital of Rs1,000 crore, according to its website. Earlier this month, parliament had passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which raises the foreign investment limit in private sector insurance companies to 49 per cent from the existing 26 per cent.
Last week, SBI had announced that Insurance Australia Group (IAG) would increase its stake in their general insurance joint venture SBI General from 26 per cent to 49 per cent (See: IAG to hike stake in SBI General to 49% under new norms).
SBI General, a 74:26 joint venture between SBI and Insurance Australia Group (IAG), began operations in 2010.