Max Life Insurance Company Ltd has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire or pick up a majority stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company Ltd at a valuation of Rs 6,000 crore, a financial daily reported.
The Mint report said that Tata AIA Life Insurance, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance and Exide Life Insurance were also in the race to buyout IDBI Federal. One unnamed person told the business daily that Max Life is likely to pick up a 51% stake in the company.
JP Morgan was given the mandate to find a buyer for the life insurer, the report added.
State-run IDBI Bank holds a 48% stake in IDBI Federal, while Kerala-based Federal Bank and Belgium’s Ageas Insurance International NV own 26%, each.
The insurance company had started operations in March 2008. In 2016-17, the company had issued Rs 1,565 crore in total premium and posted net profit of Rs 5 crore.
In February 2017, IDBI Bank’s board had given an in-principle approval to sell its non-core assets.
IvyCap’s new fund
IvyCap Ventures Advisors Pvt. Ltd has initiated discussions with an Israel-based early-stage venture capital fund to set up a $100 million cross-border fund, The Economic Times reported.
The cross-border fund will look at providing support to Israeli entrepreneurs to develop products and solutions for the Indian market, the report added. It is expected to be a dollar-denominated fund with a ticket size of $0.5-7 million.
Vikram Gupta, managing partner of IvyCap Ventures, told the financial daily that Israel has immense product innovation talent and the scale of Indian market will make expensive product solutions very affordable.
Cogoport funding
Mumbai-based Cogo Freight Pvt. Ltd, which runs online logistics marketplace Cogoport, is in final stages of discussion to raise Rs 40-50 crore from US-based venture capital firm Accel Partners, Mint said.
Incorporated in 2016, the company provides a platform to freight companies to list their capacities and sell it to potential clients looking to ship the cargo.
Cogoport has offices in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Rajkot, Gandhidham, Gurugram and Hong Kong, according to its website.