ICICI Lombard OK withinvestor backing rival co:

ICICI Lombard is beefing up its digital platform to consolidate its position as the country’s largest private non-life insurer even as partner Fairfax Financial Holdings prepares to pick up 49% stake in a rival non-life startup Digit. However, the private insurer does not see any conflict in Fairfax being the biggest shareholder by retaining close to 10% stake in ICICI Lombard.

Speaking to TOI, ICICI Lombard MD & CEO Bhargav Dasgupta said that the settlement with Fairfax has been amicable. “They are extremely bullish on general insurance — their core business — and they are very bullish on India. Fairfax was very keen to hold 49% in their India business,” Dasgupta said.

However, this was not possible as ICICI Bank‘s stated objective was to list its insurance subsidiaries. “Since they had to obviously dilute because of the IPO, it made sense for them to invest in a business where they could hold 49%,” he added.

Bandhan Bank initiates IPO process:

Bandhan Bank has initiated the process of an initial public offering (IPO). The timing of the IPO will depend on market conditions, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Managing Director and CEO, Bandhan Bank, said.

The bank is in the process of selecting investment bankers for its proposed IPO. “The process of selecting investment banks has started. It is a long process,” he said.

Bandhan is the first microfinance institution to receive universal banking licence in 2015. The Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines mandates the bank to get itself listed within three years from commencement of banking operations.

“As per RBI norms we have to get listed within three years; we are in the process,” Ghosh told newspersons on the sidelines of its second anniversary celebration here on Wednesday. The bank is not in a hurry to go for an IPO immediately as it is comfortable on the capital front.

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/bandhan-bank-initiates-ipo-process/article9829217.ece

Five mega Insurance IPOs to raise up to Rs 40,000 crore by this year-end:

Looking for protection from financial losses? While you may contemplating as to which insurance policy would be suitable to your needs given the plethora of policies, these companies are also coming out with their IPOs. There are five mega Insurance IPO’s lined up before the end of 2017 which you may want to consider. These companies are set to collectively raise up to Rs 40,000 crore before the end of 2017. These companies are HDFC Standard Life Insurance,  New India Assurance, GIC of India, SBI Life Insurance Company and ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company. Take a look.

For more details, click on the following link:

Five mega Insurance IPOs to raise up to Rs 40,000 crore by this year-end

Hero FinCorp in talks to raise Rs1,000 crore at $1 billion valuation:

Hero FinCorp Ltd, the financial services arm of India’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp Ltd, is looking to raise up to Rs1,000 crore at a valuation of $1 billion at its next funding round, two people familiar with the matter said.

Credit Suisse, which was mandated to manage the fund-raising, has approached several large domestic and global private equity funds for a potential investment, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.

The size of the stake sale has not been finalized and will depend on what the final valuation is in the forthcoming round, they said.

“The company expects to be valued around $1 billion,” said one of the two people cited above. In the last funding round, Hero FinCorp was valued at close to Rs4,000 crore, this person said. “Since then, the book size has grown significantly.”

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/lPAaUosafXK7m7sYES8ixO/Hero-FinCorp-in-talks-to-raise-Rs1000-crore-at-1-billion-v.html

PNB Housing Finance’s Journey to becoming the ‘fastest growing’ Home Financing Company in India:

PNB Housing Finance in a span of last 5 years has gone through deep transformation and has done what many in this space would consider a miracle. Innovation and a serious look into talent management, PNB Housing has managed to create India’s fastest growing housing finance company. At the heart of its success is its ‘customer friendly’ tag.

For a company that was set up in 1988, as a public sector holding, the transformation really started with the divestment of 26% equity to New Silk Route. Sanjaya Gupta, MD & CEO, PNB Housing Finance caught up with Manisha Natarajan of CNBC-TV18 and said, “The real transformation started in July 2010, with the implementation of the PPP beginning July 2011 and it became very apparent for the people of the country in Oct 2012.” The changes became apparent in all aspects of the business thereafter. Transformation of employees, technological changes, revamping physical infrastructure, adopting a new target operating model and new brand positioning to change public perceptions, improved customer reach and augmenting the delivery model were all part of PNB Housing ’s massive revamping campaign.

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/features-2/pnb-housing-finances-journey-to-becoming-the-fastest-growing-home-financing-company-in-india-2363263.html

ICICI Lombard expects SEBI nod for its IPO in next 2-3 weeks:

ICICI Lombard’s plan to list on the stock market looks well in place. The due diligence for the 13 percent stake sale to private equity players will be completed by end of the month. The company is expecting a SEBI nod for its IPO in the next 2-3 weeks, reports CNBC-TV18’s Yash Jain.

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/ipo-business/icici-lombard-expects-sebi-nod-for-its-ipo-in-next-2-3-weeks-2363065.html

CSB shares trading at 25% premium in grey market:

Shares of Catholic Syrian Bank are trading at around 25% premium in the grey market, making it difficult for potential bidders to push the overall valuation down. So, whoever — CentrumBSE 15.18 %, InCred — wins the bid, may have to shell out a lot more premium to get on board.

The stock is being traded at Rs 180 apiece, setting a benchmark for any transaction for the prospective buyer to take a stake. The book value is Rs 120 a share and is trading at 1.5 times of that, valuing the bank roughly at over Rs 1500 crore.

Despite Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa abandoning the idea to buy a majority stake in Catholic Syrian Bank, investors are quite upbeat about it. ET had recently reported that Deutsche Bank’s former chief Anshu Jain-backed Incred Finance is competing with US private equity giant Warburg Pincus and Aion Capital for a controlling stake in Catholic Syrian Bank

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/csb-shares-trading-at-25-premium-in-grey-market/articleshow/60112563.cms

InCred, Aion, Warburg vie for CSB stake:

InCred Finance, backed by former Deutsche Bank co-CEO Anshu Jain, is competing with US private equity giant Warburg Pincus and Aion Capital for a controlling stake in Catholic Syrian Bank after negotiations between the Kerala-based lender and Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa-controlled Fairfax hit a roadblock.

The new set of investors is expected to make formal offers by September, several people with knowledge of the matter told ET.

“Yes, we are talking to a new set of  investors.

Hopefully, within a few weeks, we should be able to start exclusive dialogue with one of them,” said a person with direct knowledge of the process.

The 97-year-old bank is held by Bangkok-based Indian businessman Surachan Chansri Chawla along with a few high net worth individuals and some private equity funds.

Earlier this year, Fairfax made a formal offer valuing the bank at around Rs 1,300 crore.

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/incred-aion-warburg-vie-for-csb-stake/articleshow/59962080.cms

Hero FinCorp looks to raise Rs 800 crore from ChrysCap:

Hero FinCorp, the vehiclefinance arm of two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorpBSE 0.03 %, is looking to raise about $120 million, or Rs 800 crore, from India-focused private equity (PE) firm ChrysCapital, two people aware of the development said.

In September 2016, Hero FinCorp had raised about Rs 1,000 crore in the first round from investors, including ChrysCapital. The PE firm and financial services firm Credit Suisse had invested around Rs 700 crore in the company, while about Rs 300 crore was invested by its parent, Hero Group. “Hero Fin-Corp has sent out feelers to ChrysCapital for the second round of investment. The deal is in an initial stage,” said a person close to the development.

The second round of fund-raising is towards the company’s plans for expansion and buying stake in other NBFCs, another person in the know said. “It makes perfect sense for Hero FinCorp to sell some stake at this point in time. The only problem is valuations; the sellers have quite high expectations,” said another person in the know.

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/hero-fincorp-looks-to-raise-rs-800-crore-from-chryscap/articleshow/59815611.cms

Catholic Syrian Bank weighs fundraising options as talks with Fairfax collapse:

The board of Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB) met on Monday to discuss various capital raising plans of the bank after talks with Prem Watsa-owned Fairfax Financial Holdings collapsed owing to valuation differences, said three people who attended the meeting.

“The board is currently weighing three options: whether to revive the IPO (initial public offering) plan or to sell 5% stake to multiple investors or go ahead with a strategic stake sale of 51%,” said T.S. Anantharaman, chairman of the Kerala-based bank and one of the three cited earlier.

“We will be taking a decision very soon,” he added.

Mint had reported on 13 July that the bank was reconsidering a share sale, three years after it had filed a draft red herring prospectus to raise Rs400 crore.

In June 2015, markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had approved its public offering.

The plan was, however, dropped because of volatile market conditions prevailing at that time.

“We need to raise capital which will meet the requirement for the next three years,” said the second of the three people cited earlier, on condition of anonymity.

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

http://www.livemint.com/Industry/I4mPSBucWE3OsO5bdURZgM/Catholic-Syrian-Bank-weighs-fundraising-options-as-talks-wit.html

HDB the new billion dollar baby? :

Investors are punting that the next multi-billion dollar baby from the HDFC stable is born – HDB Financial Services, the non-banking finance subsidiary of HDFC BankBSE -0.16 %, the nation’s most valuable lender. It may soon head to Dalal Street where many average investors have turned millionaires by investing in Housing Development Finance.

HDB Financial, the company that gives out personal loans, car loans and does recovery services, is being traded in  private deals at anywhere between Rs. 500 to Rs. 550 apiece, valuing it around Rs. 45,000 crores. That is almost a triple of where it was trading six months ago. It is the sixth most valuable NBFC in the roll of honour.

“This is now the largest unlisted NBFC with a market capitalization of Rs 45,000 crore,” says Nitin Rao, Founder of alphaideas.com, which tracks shares in the unlisted space.

For more details, kindly click on the following link:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/hdb-the-new-billion-dollar-baby/articleshow/59778050.cms

Jhunjhunwala, Damani-backed Metropolitan Stock Exchange raises capital

Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India Ltd (MSEI) has raised fresh funding from a bunch of investors, as the Mumbai-based bourse tries to turn around its fortunes after a change in management last year.

For more details, Click on the following link:

Exclusive: Jhunjhunwala, Damani-backed Metropolitan Stock Exchange raises capital

ICICI Bank, Fairfax join venture terminated ahead of ICICI Lombard IPO:

ICICI Bank on Tuesday said the joint venture agreement between it and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd has been terminated ahead of the IPO of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company — a JV between the two entities.

“In pursuance of the proposed initial public offering (IPO)), we inform you that the joint-venture agreement dated October 4, 2000 (as amended/restated from time to time) entered among Fairfax Financial Holdings and ICICI Bank has been terminated pursuant to a termination agreement executed on July 3, 2017,” ICICI Bank said in a regulatory filing.