Bank of India on Friday announced it proposal to sell its 25.05% stake in Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance, its joint venture company with Union Bank of India and Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Holdings. In its request for proposal (RFP), the public sector lender said it is proposing to sell 6.48 crore equity shares worth about `1,106 crore.
Bank of India has invited non-binding bids to its partial stake sale with a floor price of Rs 170.50 per share. Bank of India has a 28.96% stake in the joint venture, while Union Bank of India and Dai-ichi Life own 25.10% and 45.94%, respectively.
Established in February 2009, Star Union Dai-ichi Life’s (SUD Life) premium income stood at Rs 1,211 crore, while its profit after tax stood at Rs 55 crore during April-December 2018-19. The insurer provides individual and group plans that meet various needs which includes protection plans, savings plan, wealth plans, child plans and health plans among others.
Read Also| SBI is geared to meet any additional demand for housing loans, says Parveen Kumar Gupta, MD-Retail & Digital Banking
In its RFP bank stated, “BOI is proposing to sell up to 6,48,739,64 equity shares having face value of Rs 10 each of Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance comprising 25.05% of the total paid-up equity share capital of SUD Life with a floor price of Rs 170.50 per share.”
Bank of India has invited non-binding proposals/bids for purchase of the said equity shares by April 12. The proposed stake sale is part of the bank’s efforts to offload some of its non-core assets and raise funds. Shares of Bank of India on BSE ended the day at Rs 100.90 down by 0.10% on Friday. The data from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India shows that market shares of Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance is under 1% for the period between April and February.