DLF to sell stake in insurance JV to pare debt

REUTERS - Property developer DLF said on Thursday it has agreed to sell its 74 percent stake in a life insurance joint venture with U.S.-based Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd to Dewan Housing Finance Corp.

The company said the financial details of the deal will be disclosed after the transaction gets all approvals.

DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company is one of the two dozen Indian life insurers in which Prudential International Insurance, a unit of Prudential Financial Inc , owns 26 percent, the maximum permissible foreign holding.

The stake sale in the joint venture is part of DLF's strategy to divest "non-core" assets to pare debt, a company statement said.

 

India's crowded life insurance sector has been battered by losses, regulatory changes and a sharp slowdown in economic growth, forcing many foreign and domestic players to exit their investments. (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee in MUMBAI; Editing by Jijo Jacob)