Standard Life plans to divest up to 4.5% stake in HDFC Life Insurance

From October lows of Rs 575, shares of HDFC Life had gained as much as 8 per cent amid strong buying in shares of private insurers

UK’s Standard Life is planning to divest up to 4.5 per cent stake in HDFC Life Insurance. According to terms of a detail obtained by Bloomberg, the shares will be offered in the range between Rs 562 and Rs 575.

Shares of HDFC Life closed 1.6 per cent lower at Rs 610.4 on the BSE, even as the Sensex rose 1.5 per cent.

The share sale is worth $600 million with an option to sell an additional $200 million. Standard Life could raise between Rs 4,200 crore and Rs 5,600 crore through the share sale. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is managing the share sale.

At the end of the June quarter, Standard Life (Mauritius Holdings) 2006 held 23.02 per cent stake in HDFC Life, shareholding data on the BSE shows. Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Standard Life are the joint venture partner in HDFC Life Insurance, with the former holding 24.69 per cent stake.

In August, Standard Life had sold 3.2 per cent in HDFC Life via a block deal. Prior to that, Standard Life had sold 1.78 per cent stake for approximately Rs 1,400 crore. In March, it had divested 4.93 per cent stake in the life insurer to raise about Rs 3,600 crore.

From October lows of Rs 575, shares of HDFC Life had gained as much as 8 per cent amid strong buying in shares of private insurers. HDFC Life posted 7.5 per cent rise in standalone net profit to Rs 308.69 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. The company’s net profit in the year-ago period stood at Rs 286.98 crore.

Total income of the insurance firm rose to Rs 8,661.56 crore, from Rs 7,902.10 in the same quarter a year ago, HDFC Life said. The assets under management of the insurance firm rose to Rs 1.3 trillion.