Mumbai:
Debt-laden consumer electronics group Videocon Industries Ltd has announced to sell its entire 51.32% stake in its insurance unit, Liberty Videocon General Insurance, to Diamond Dealtrade Ltd, part of steel pipe maker DP Jindal Group and financial services firm Enam Securities.
Diamond Dealtrade will hold 26 per cent of Liberty Videocon General while Enam will own 25.32% upon completion of the deal, a filing with BSE said. The transaction is subject to “various closing conditions”, it added.
The insurer is a joint venture of Videocon and Liberty Citystate Holdings Pte Ltd, a unit of US-based Liberty Mutual Insurance Co, the fourth-largest property and casualty insurer in the US.
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Without disclosing the deal amount, Videocon revealed that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has approved the stake sale in Liberty Videocon General Insurance Co.
The country’s largest lender State Bank of India recently initiated insolvency trial against Videocon at the National Company Law Tribunal.
Liberty Videocon General Insurance got an approval from the IRDA of India, which enabled the company to commence operations in April 2013. Videocon Industries initially held 74% of the share capital in the insurance firm, and the rest is owned by Liberty Citystate Holdings. With a change in local regulations in India in 2016, as the government allowed a 49% foreign investment.Liberty Mutual increased its stake in the company to 49%, leaving Videocon with a 51% share.As of Dec 2017, Liberty Videocon had a market share of 0.54% & Growth rate of 38.68 per cent.