Mumbai : State Bank of India on Friday sold 3.9 per cent stake in SBI Life for Rs 1,794 crore to Singapore sovereign fund Temasek and global private equity major KKR, valuing the life insurance firm at Rs 46,000 crore ahead of its plans to go public within a couple of years.
Both the partners will pick up equal stake in the third largest private life insurer, after HDFC Life (post merger with Max Life) and ICICI Prudential Life.
In October, SBI had informed the exchanges it was planning to dilute up to 5 per cent to interested parties and that it was working towards taking SBI Life public over the next 18-24 months. SBI had also offered to shed 10 per cent stake to its French joint venture partner BNP Group, at a right price. Asked whether SBI would sell the remaining portion in the planned stake dilution, a senior company official told PTI that it is unlikely in the current fiscal year.
SBI Life is a joint venture between the nation’s largest lender and French financial powerhouse BNP Paribas Cardif, which owns 26 per cent stake. Post-transaction, SBI’s stake in the life insurance firm will come down to 70.1 per cent from current 74 per cent, while BNP Paribas Cardif will continue to hold 26 per cent. In a statement, SBI said the executive committee meeting of its board has approved the sale of 3.9 crore shares of Rs 10 each, equalling a 3.9 per cent stake in SBI Life for Rs 1,794 crore (USD 264 million). It said an investment vehicle affiliated with the KKR- managed funds and an affiliate of Temasek will each purchase 1.95 crore share from the bank. “We are happy to welcome KKR and Temasek as our incoming partners in SBI Life. The partnership with Temasek and KKR is a recognition of the efforts of SBI Life’s commitment to create a high-quality institution which is a leader amongst the close to two dozen private life insurers in the country,” SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said.
