INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
investor queered the pitch for prospective bidders
After the transaction, LIC will also become a significant owner of private sector insurer IDBI Federal Life Insurance, where IDBI Bank owns
48 per cent , and the rest is split between Federal Bank and Ageas.
Bidders such as Kotak Life and Birla Sun Life were keen on IDBI-Federal
JP Morgan was running the mandate and a dozen companies had submitted bids
One of the shortlisted bidders, Max Life was also willing to pay ?6,000 crore for IDBI-Federal.
Max Life pulled out as the bank was
unwilling to commit to an exclusive bancassurance partnership
Birla had also put the same conditions
The insurer sells policies through 3,000 branches of the two lenders, IDBI Bank and Federal Bank.
LIC has stakes in 22 public sector banks
While rules allow banks to tie up with up to three life insurance companies, many bidders could baulk at selling their policies through a
bank owned by their chief rival.
