KKR, Standard Chartered may invest in Max Life to fund acquisition plans

Mumbai: Max Financial Services Ltd on Monday said that its board has approved submission of fundraising proposals from KKR Capital Markets India Pvt. Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank, TPG Global LLC and other co-investors, to pursue an acquisition opportunity by its subsidiary Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

On 21 March, the board of Max Financial had approved raising Rs5,000 crore by way of debt to invest in Max Life, either through a preferential issue or a qualified institutional placement, for part financing the amount required for funding acquisition opportunities.

“The various fund-raising proposals received by the company are subject to, among other things, (i) execution of definitive documents between the company and the relevant investors; (ii) completion of various conditions agreed between the company and such investors; and (iii) receipt of requisite approvals, in each case, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the investors,” the company said in the filing.

On 13 February, Mint reported that Max Life has emerged as the leading candidate to buy out or pick up a majority stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co. Ltd, citing two people aware of ongoing talks.

Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Co. Ltd, Tata AIA Life Insurance Co. Ltd, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd and Exide Life Insurance Co. Ltd have also shown interest in buying IDBI Federal Life’s insurance assets in India,

Analjit Singh-promoted Max Life’s plans to acquire IDBI Federal Life came after its proposed merger with HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd collapsed in late July last year.

The merger of HDFC Standard Life Insurance and Max Life would have created an insurance giant with Rs1.1 trillion in assets.

HDFC Standard Life went public in November last year by launching its Rs8,695 crore initial public offering.