Edelweiss, Tokio Marine in risk JV

Financial services firm Edelweiss Capital today announced that it had entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with Japanese insurer Tokio Marine Holdings for a foray into life insurance.

The JV, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance (ETLI), will soon apply to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) to get its nod to start operations, which might take eight months to one year more, Edelweiss Capital’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rashesh Shah said in Mumbai today.

In a statement, Edelweiss said it would have a 74 per cent stake in the JV, while the rest will be held by Tokio Marine Holdings. The proposed venture will have Rs 550 crore paid-up equity capital to start with.

Japan-based Tokio Marine Group has a net worth of $18.4 billion and revenues of $39 billion in FY09. Apart from life insurance, where the 138-year-old company entered in 1996, TMH has presence in general insurance and asset management sectors among other areas of financial services.

The Japanese group might increase its stake in the JV to 49 per cent as soon as Irda hiked the foreign direct investment limit in the life insurance sector, Shah said. Tokio Marine had entered into the Indian general insurance space in 2000 partnering with Iffco.