ICICI Lombard gains after IRDAI approves acquisition of Bharti AXA General

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), on Friday (27 November) approved, in principle, the acquisition of the non-life insurance business of Bharti AXA General Insurance Company by ICICI Lombard General Insurance.

Shares of ICICI Lombard General Insurance were up 2.55% at Rs 1492.80. The stock hit a high of Rs 1500 and a low of Rs 1459.50 so far.

In a statement, ICICI Lombard said it is progressing applications for receipt of requisite approval from other regulators concerned for the transaction.

Earlier in November 2020, Competition Commission of India (CCI), BSE and National Stock Exchange of India had approved the proposed acquisition.

The two companies had announced the proposed merger on 21 August this year. Upon closing of the proposed transaction, the consolidated entity will have a market share of about 8.7% in the non-life business.

Bharti AXA General Insurance is a joint venture between Bharti, an Indian business group with interests in telecom, agriculture business and retail, holding 51% stake and AXA, a global insurance and asset management company, holding the remainder 49% stake.

As a part of the deal, shareholders of the demerged company i.e. Bharti and AXA will be allotted equity shares with Bharti General Ventures shareholders receiving 1.82 crore shares and Societe Beaujon receiving 1.75 crore shares.

Based on the share exchange ratio accepted by the respective boards of the two companies, the shareholders of Bharti AXA shall receive 2 shares of ICICI Lombard for every 115 shares of Bharti AXA held by them as on the date of the approval.

Post demerger, Bharti AXA General Insurance will cease to be a going concern and both Bharti and AXA will be public shareholders while ICICI Bank will continue to hold less than 48.11% stake in ICICI Lombard.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance is a private sector non-life insurer. The company offers a diversified range of products, including motor, health, fire, personal accident, marine, engineering and liability insurance, through multiple distribution channels.

The general insurer reported 35.02% rise in net profit to Rs 415.74 crore in Q2 FY21 as against Rs 307.91 crore in Q2 FY20. Total income increased by 5.28% to Rs 2883.40 crore in Q2 September 2020 compared with Rs 2738.92 crore in Q2 September 2019.

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