BackHDFC to pick insurance partner in 2 weeks
HDFC to pick insurance partner in 2 weeks
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Mumbai: Housing Development Finance Corp. has shortlisted three foreign firms for a stake in its insurance venture and will select one of them within 15 days, the Business Standard reported on Friday, quoting an unnamed senior HDFC official.
The shortlisted firms include U.S.-based Travelers and Australia’s IAG Group and another U.S. company that was not named, the paper said without directly attributing the information to a source.
HDFC had ruled out Germany’s Ergo as a partner in its wholly owned HDFC Chubb General Insurance Co., although the two firms were still in talks, the newspaper said with no direct attribution to a source.
HDFC bought its partner Chubb Corp’s 26% stake in the general insurance venture earlier this year after an uneasy relationship stalled growth.
The paper said HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh had told shareholders last month that foreign firms were willing to pay a premium for the stake in the insurance company.
Foreigners are allowed to own up to 26% of an insurance company. The government wants to increase this limit to 49%, but its communist allies oppose such a move.
HDFC also runs a life insurance firm in a joint venture with UK’s Standard Life.
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