Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the stake acquisition in Max Life Insurance Company by Axis Bank, Axis Capital and Axis Securities.
Axis Bank had sought CCI nod to acquire upto 20 per cent stake in Max Life in a deal also involving stake sale to the bank’s subsidiaries Axis Capital and Axis Securities.
It maybe recalled that Axis Bank had to revise its agreement on stake buy in Max Life Insurance as the Reserve Bank of India had rejected this bank’s earlier proposal to directly buy 17 per cent in Max Life Insurance.
As per the combination notice filed with CCI , the shareholding of Axis Bank in Max Life will increase from about 1 per cent to approximately 9.9 per cent.
Also, Axis Capital and Axis Securities will acquire 2 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, shareholding in Max Life. Axis entities will also have a right to acquire an additional stake of up to 7 per cent in Max Life, in one or more tranches, taking their overall stake to 19.99 per cent.
“Commission approves acquisition of the stake in Max Life Insurance Company by Axis Bank, Axis Capital and Axis Securities,” the competition watchdog said in a tweet.
In December last year, Max Financial Services Limited (MFSL), the parent company of Max Life Insurance, completed a swap of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company’s (MSI) 20.57 per cent stake in Max Life Insurance with 21.87 per cent stake in MFSL.
Post this swap, MFSL’s stake in Max Life effectively increased to 93.10 per cent from 72.5 per cent held earlier.