SBI Life Insurance surges 7%, hits record high after large block deals

US private equity fund CA Emerald Investments, an affiliate of Carlyle Asia Partners, is looking to sell 3.5 per cent stake in SBI Life Insurance amounting to Rs 3,308 crore, a report said

Shares of SBI Life Insurance rallied 7 per cent to hit a record high of Rs 1,040 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Friday after more than 40 million shares or 4 per cent equity of the insurance company changed hands via block deals. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,030 touched on October 30, 2019.

Till 09:21 am, around 41.3 million equity shares, representing 4.13 per cent of the total equity of SBI Life Insurance had changed hands on the BSE, the exchange data shows. The names of the buyers and sellers were not ascertained immediately. 

As per a report in The Economic Times, US private equity fund CA Emerald Investments, an affiliate of Carlyle Asia Partners, is looking to sell a 3.5 per cent stake in SBI Life Insurance amounting to Rs 3,308 crore. The offer price has been fixed at Rs 945 per share, which is around 2.5 per cent lower than yesterday’s closing price.

As of March 31, 2021, CA Emerald Investments held 60 million equity shares or a 6 per cent stake in the company.

SBI Life was incorporated as a joint venture between State Bank of India (SBI) and BNP Paribas. On March 12, BNP Paribas Cardif, the French insurer, had sold a 5 per cent stake, or a little over 50 million shares, in private sector life insurer SBI Life for Rs 4,557 crore at Rs 911 a share in an open market sale. With this, the shareholding of the French insurer has come down to 0.2 per cent in SBI Life.

Meanwhile, SBI Life Insurance Company on Monday, May 3, had reported healthy premium growth, improved profitability and strong value of new business (VNB) margin uptick for the quarter ended March 2021 (Q4FY21).  For Q4FY21, SBI Life posted net premium growth of 31 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 15,556 crore, led by new business premium growth of 63 per cent YoY at Rs 6,187 crore, while renewal premium grew 16 per cent YoY to Rs 9,459 crore. AUM was up 38 per cent YoY to Rs 220,870 crore.

At 09:32 am, SBI Life was trading 3 per cent higher at Rs 1,001 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.88 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The stock hit a new high of Rs 1,044.70 on the NSE.