Tatas to buy AIG's stake in life insurance unit

A day after Prudential bought out AIG’s Asia arm, AIA, top executives of both AIG and Tata AIG met the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (Irda) to keep the latter abreast of developments.

Sources at Tata Sons told Business Standard they had decided to buy out AIG’s stake in the life insurance business. And, would consider inducting a partner at a later stage.

In another meeting, senior executives of Prudential and the ICICI group discussed the implications of the buyout on their Indian insurance venture. According to people familiar with the matter, Prudential reinforced its commitment to the group. Barry Stowe, chief executive officer of Prudential Corporation, Asia, was present in the meeting.

By Irda data, while ICICI Prudential had around 7 per cent market share in total premiums at the end of January, Tata AIG Life had only 1.23 per cent share.

The whole exercise started after Prudential bought AIG’s Asia arm yesterday for $35.5 billion. AIG had to sell stake to repay the US government who had bailed out the US insurer at the time of financial downturn.

Tata AIG Life Insurance Company is the ninth largest insurer in the Indian market. The company recorded 13.7 per cent increase in the total premium income between April 2009 and January 2010. The insurance regulator is still working on the merger and acquisition guidelines.