Reliance Nippon Life in talks with IndusInd Bank on bancassurance tie up

Reliance Nippon Life Insurance, a subsidiary of debt-ridden Reliance Capital (RCAP), has initiated talks with IndusInd Bank for bancassurance partnership as the IIHL and RCAP deal has reached the final lap.

Mauritius-based IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL), the parent entity of IndusInd Bank, won the bid to acquire RCAP and entities under it.

"IIHL and Japan-based Nippon Life have struck a good understanding and they are absolutely clear about promoting the insurance business. This augurs very well for the business and policyholders as IIHL has a very strong capital base and a solid global aspiration in BFSI space," Reliance Nippon Life Insurance CEO Ashish Vohra told PTI.

Hinduja Group company IIHL is expecting to complete the acquisition of RCAP by next month nearly a year after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved its rescue plan.

"Bancassurance was a missing link in our structure and we have started exploring the possibility with IndusInd Bank and we are already in dialogue to strike a win-win deal for all stakeholders," he said.

At the same time, he said, the company has started talks with other financial institutions as the regulation allows more than one such tie-up.

IndusInd Bank serves about 41 million customers through 3,040 branches/banking outlets and 3,011 ATMs across India.

"Most of the approvals and procedures related to the resolution process of Reliance Capital are complete. Couple of the procedures at the end of the administrator and CoC are to be completed. We hope that all these will be over in the next 4-6 weeks and RCAP should come into the fold of Hinduja Group by the end of January," IIHL Chairman Ashok P Hinduja had said earlier this month.

As soon as delisting of shares is over, money will be handed over to RCAP debtors, he said, adding that delisting usually takes 4-6 weeks.

Sharing the road map for business expansion, Hinduja had said the focus will be on value creation, bancassurance and digitalisation to improve customer and policyholder experience.

He emphasised that the bancassurance model creates value for all stakeholders - banks as well as the insurance companies.

"We aim to establish relationships on terms that are beneficial for all parties involved," he had said.

Post-acquisition, as Reliance Capital prepares to integrate its offerings into IIHL's portfolio, collaboration with banks marks a significant step towards expanding its market share and achieve ambitious growth targets in the coming years. The strategy also gives context to the IIHL's way forward approach in the financial services business.

RCAP, registered as core investment company with the RBI, has several entities under it, including Reliance Nippon Life Insurance, Reliance General Insurance, Reliance Money, Reliance Securities, Reliance Asset Reconstruction, and Reliance Commercial Finance.

"Out of the 39 subsidiaries of Reliance Capital, we plan to divest 34 or 35, as they are mostly small shell entities with small businesses," he said.

With the acquisition, IIHL aims to ramp up banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) business more than three-fold to USD 50 billion in the next five years as against the current valuation of USD 15 billion as on September 30, 2024.