Carlyle buys 9 per cent in SBI Life

Mumbai: Global private equity major Carlyle Group on Friday acquired a 9 per cent stake in SBI Life Insurance from the French insurer BNP Paribas Cardif SA for around Rs 5,500, making it one of the largest deals in the Indian insurance sector.

On Friday, SBI Life stock plummeted by over 6 per cent after BNP Paribas Cardif offloaded 5.074 per cent stake through a block deal.

The private sector insurer made the disclosure to the BSE in a regulatory filing, saying that the move is not to comply with Sebi’s public float norms.

“We would like to clarify that this sale is not being undertaken as per the methods prescribed by Sebi for achieving the minimum public shareholding (MPS) threshold, and is not being undertaken with a view to comply with the MPS threshold,” it said.

BNP Paribas Cardif said it is committed to ensuring that the insurer achieves the MPS threshold during the compliance period.

With the block deal, the firm’s stake in SBI Life Insurance has further reduced to 7.7 per cent from the previous 12.7 per cent.

Earlier this month, BNP Paribas Cardiff had sold 9.2 per cent stake to global investment firm Carlyle Group’s arm, CA Emerald Investments.

SBI Life, which is the country’s largest private sector insurer, had launched an IPO in September 2017. The SBI Life Insurance shares closed at Rs 579.55, down 6.5 per cent on the BSE.