STANDARD Life Aberdeen has raised around £370 million by reducing its stake in its Indian insurance joint venture, writes Scott Wright.
The Edinburgh-based pensions and investment giant offloaded a tranche of its shares in HDFC Life, the joint venture it runs with India’s HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation), as the business floated on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Standard Life Aberdeen, formed by the giant merger this year of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management, said 108,581,768 shares in HDFC Life were sold by Standard Life (Mauritius Holdings) through the initial public offering. The Standard Life Aberdeen subsidiary now holds just under 30 per cent of the issued equity share capital of HDFC Life further to the sale, which based on the listing price of HDFC Life is valued at around £2 billion.
Shares HDFC Life closed at 343.9 Indian Rupees after the first day of trading, 19 per cent up on the offer price of 290 INR (£3.38) per equity share set for the IPO.
Sir Gerry Grimstone, chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen, said: “Today’s listing is an historic moment in HDFC Life’s short 17-year history. It is the culmination of a great partnership between HDFC and Standard Life Aberdeen and the first day’s share performance demonstrates the strength of this leading business.”
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