Aegon Religare renamed Aegon Life Insurance

Bennett, Coleman and Company will increase its stake by acquiring Religare Enterprises's entire shareholding

Aegon Religare Life Insurance has been renamed Aegon Life Insurance, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Earlier this year, Religare Enterprises had announced it was exiting the venture by selling its entire shareholding in the company, 44 per cent, to Bennett, Coleman and Company, the holding company of the Times Group. Religare said in a regulatory filing that the transaction marking its exit from the life insurance company was closed on December 7 and the total consideration for this transaction was Rs 971 crore. According to Aegon Life’s statement, Aegon, the foreign partner, increased its stake in the venture to 49 per cent.

The insurer said it procured all approvals from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and other regulatory bodies. K S Gopalakrishnan, managing director and CEO of Aegon Life, said: “Aegon’s global reach, expertise in digital technology and customer analytics coupled with the Times Group’s know-how in the Indian market will give us an edge. Being the first ones to launch an online term plan, we’ll continue to innovate in different products and categories.”

The statement noted that Aegon Life, the new brand, would avoid jargons and simplify products for the benefit of customers.