ING Vysya Bank sells stake in insurance venture

Our Banking Bureau
30 May 2005

Bangalore: ING Vysya Bank has sold its 14.87 per cent stake in the ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd to Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd (GACL). In a press release issued by ING Vysya Life Insurance Company, the company said that the stake sale was made for a consideration of Rs60.9 crore. The sale would have to be approved by the regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.

With this change, ING Vysya Bank would completely divest its holding in favour of GACL. This stake sale is expected to boost the first quarter bottomline of ING Vysya Bank that had ended the last financial year with a net loss of Rs38.18 crore.

The sale would, however, not impact the existing shareholding structure of the ING Vysya Life. The ING group of the Netherlands is the largest stakeholder in the insurance company currently capitalised at Rs345 crore. The ING group holds 26 per cent of the stake. The other major stakeholders in the insurance company are GMR Vasavi group and Enam Financial.

The stake sale is unlikely to impact the bancassurance arrangements with the ING Vysya Bank.