Bharti Group Announces Acquisition of AXA's 49% Stake in Bharti AXA Life Insurance Joint Venture
After the transaction, Bharti Life Ventures, the holding company of Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company, will achieve full ownership, holding 100% in the life insurer.
"Presently, the joint venture is held with a 49% stake owned by France-based AXA.
Following the decision made by Bharti and AXA in 2020 to merge Bharti AXA General Insurance with ICICI Lombard, and AXA's subsequent exit from ICICI Lombard's shareholding, Bharti Life Ventures has now entered into an agreement to assume full ownership of Bharti AXA Life Insurance, as announced in a statement by Bharti on Wednesday."
"The completion of this transaction is anticipated by December 2023, pending regulatory approvals."
"The statement further noted that Bharti's objective is to ensure the continued service of the life insurance business in the Indian market. To achieve this goal, Bharti is actively engaging with other strategic and financial investors to explore potential partnerships or combinations that will enable the business to further expand.
In 2006, Bharti AXA Life Insurance commenced its operations as a joint venture, with the Bharti Group and the AXA Group holding 74% and 26% stakes, respectively. In 2015, following the Indian government's decision to raise the foreign investment cap in domestic insurance companies from 26% to a comprehensive limit of 49%, AXA increased its stake in the joint venture to 49%."
"Additionally, Bharti established another joint venture with AXA in 2006, leading to the formation of Bharti AXA General Insurance. In 2020, both Bharti and AXA divested from the general insurance business by selling the company to ICICI Lombard. This merger between Bharti AXA General Insurance and ICICI Lombard General Insurance became effective on September 8, 2021, following approvals from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)."
"For the first quarter of this fiscal year, Bharti AXA Life Insurance reported a 12.37% year-on-year decline in its new business premium, totaling Rs 377.54 crore. Meanwhile, the collective new business premium, or the first-year premium, for 26 private sector life insurance companies grew by 13.75% year-on-year to reach Rs 65,734.19 crore, as per data released by the Life Insurance Council."
"During the financial year 2022-23, the life insurance company achieved an 8.79% year-on-year increase in its new business premium, reaching Rs 1,016.91 crore, compared to Rs 934.71 crore in the previous financial year, FY22.
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