Weeks after the passage of insurance legislation, State Bank of India, on Tuesday, decided to divest up to 10 per cent stake in its life insurance arm SBI Life, giving the first right of refusal to foreign partner BNP Paribas Cardif of France.
“The executive committee of the central board has today authorised divestment of SBI’s stake in SBI Life Insurance by up to 10 per cent,” SBI said in a statement.
“We are continuing discussion with Cardif as it has the first right of refusal as per the agreement. The stake dilution process would progress only after getting clear signal from the foreign partner,” SBI Life Insurance Managing Director and CEO Arijit Basu told PTI. SBI Life Insurance is a 74:26 per cent joint venture between SBI and BNP Paribas Cardif of France. At present, SBI owns 74 per cent of the total capital and BNP Paribas Cardif has the remaining 26 per cent in the joint venture.
