Praveen Vashishta, chairman, Howden India
“We want to be a Rs 200 crore company in our India operations in couple of years and have put in place right growth strategies supported by talents and technologies,” said Praveen Vashishta, chairman of Howden India adding that the European broker will be a credible alternative to three American brokers, Marsh, Aon and Gallagher who all have Indian subsidiaries
Mumbai:
Howden, UK based international insurance broker, has raised its shareholding in its Indian joint venture Howden Insurance Brokers India Private Limited (“Howden India”) from 49 per cent to 100 percent on Thursday, subject to post completion approval from the Reserve Bank of India.
Howden, which had set up its Indian company in partnership with Praveen Vashishta, currently the chairman of Howden India and Aruna Chainani, in 2004, has bought out the stakes of both.
Vashishta was holding 46 percent while Chainani had a five per cent stake in Howden Insurance Brokers India Private Limited.
However, the details of the financial transactions among the stake holders have not been disclosed.
Vashishta, who continues to be the chairman of the Indian outfit, even after parting with his entire stake, said, the re/insurance broker is actively is looking for inorganic growth and would be keen to acquire any “right-fit’ insurance brokers irrespective of line of the business they do,
“We want to be a Rs 200 crore company in our India operations in couple of years and have put in place right growth strategies supported by talents and technologies,” said Vashishta adding that the European broker will be a credible alternative to three major American brokers, Marsh, Aon and Gallagher, who all have Indian subsidiaries.
Commenting on the transaction, José Manuel González, CEO Howden Broking Group, said: “This is an exciting development for Howden that will further strengthen our position in one of the world’s fastest growing insurance markets. Our increased stake in Howden India reflects our commitment to build a leading broking business where we continue to focus on investing in data and technology, and to build long-term partnerships with our clients. We stand committed to investing in the very best talent and empowering our colleagues to deliver innovative and seamless solutions for clients.”
With Howden raising its stake to 100 per cent in its Indian subsidiary, except Lebanon based UIB and BSE Ebix Insurance Broking Private, now almost all foreign insurance brokers, Marsh, AON, Willis, Gallagher, , which have Indian operations, have already completed buying out their local partners after the government regulations allowed overseas insurance intermediaries to set up 100 per cent subsidiaries in the country. .
In Marsh India, still some local partners hold 9 per cent of stakes.