Prem Watsa's Fairfax Holdings has started the process of reducing its stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance as it sold 12.18% stake to three investors.
Red Bloom Investment, a company wholly owned by private equity funds managed by Warburg Pincus LLC, acquired 9%, Tamarind Capital Pte., a company wholly owned by the Clermont Group, bought 1.59% and IIFL Special Opportunities Fund, managed by IIFL Asset Management Ltd. picked up 1.59%. The deal values the general insurance company at Rs. 20,300 crore.
"Upon completion of the transaction, the share ownership in the Company of ICICI Bank Ltd. and Fairfax will be approximately 63.31% and 22.13%, respectively," the insurer said in a statement.
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The move comes amid Fairfax's interest to float a joint venture in India with former Allianz executive Kamesh Goyal. If Fairfax wants to pick up stake upto 49%, as allowed under FDI rules, then it has to reduce its stake in ICICI Lombard below 10%.
Fairfax had increased its stake in ICICI Lombard to 35% in 2015 by acquiring an additional 9% in a deal that valued the joint venture at Rs. 17,225 crore.