Multinational insurer Insurance Australia Group is looking to sell its 26% stake in SBI General Insurance Company Ltd for around Rs 3,400 crore, The Economic Times reported.
SBI General Insurance is a joint venture between State Bank of India (70%) and Insurance Australia Group (26%). It commenced operations in 2010.
Citing people aware of the development, the report said the insurer has approached close to 40 potential suitors including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Singapore’s Temasek and existing investor PremjiInvest, the family office of Wipro Ltd chairman Azim Premji.
SBI General Insurance is in talks with strategic investors including Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance, Liberty General and private equity firms such as Apax Partners, Advent International, Blackstone, Warburg Pincus and KKR, ET said.
The suitors have already started placing non-binding bids, the report stated.
Goldman Sachs is advising Insurance Australia Group on the stake sale.
In September last year, private equity fund Axis New Opportunities AIF-I and PremjiInvest had picked up a 4% stake in SBI General Insurance for Rs 482 crore ($66.42 million) at a valuation of Rs 12,000 crore.
SBI General Insurance’s gross written premium grew 36% to Rs 3,544 crore in 2017-18.
Medanta acquisition
Private equity firm TPG Capital and the Manipal Group are in advanced negotiations to buy a controlling stake in Global Health Pvt. Ltd, which owns super-specialty hospital Medanta - The Medicity, business daily Mint reported, citing two people in the know.
The report said the consortium have entered into a three-month exclusivity period with Medanta and currently conducting due diligence.
In October 2018, Manipal was in talks to buy a stake in Medanta. The transaction would give private equity firm The Carlyle Group an exit in Global Health Pvt. Ltd, which operates Medanta, but Temasek would hold onto its investment in the hospital chain, people in the know had told VCCircle then.
PE firm Carlyle Group holds 27.5% stake and Temasek owns 17.5% stake. Naresh Trehan’s family and co-founder Sunil Sachdeva together hold around 55% stake in Gurugram-headquartered Global Health.
Manipal Group operates hospitals and educational institutions. Last year, TPG-backed Manipal lost out to Malaysia's IHH Healthcare to buy hospital chain Fortis Healthcare Ltd.
Global Health Pvt. Ltd recorded a 5.2% increase in net sales for the financial year 2017-18 to Rs 1,343 crore. Its net profit decline to Rs 32.87 crore from Rs 50.62 crore in the same period, according to VCCEdge, the data research platform of News Corp VCCircle.
