ICICI Bank, Fairfax Financial to sell stake in ICICI Lombard via initial public offer

Private lender ICICI Bank and Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings will pare their stakes in joint venture insurer ICICI Lombard General Insurance planned initial public offering (IPO) of shares, the insurer said on Monday.

The board of the bank has cleared the sale of its stake in joint-venture firm ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd through an Initial Public Offer.

"The board of directors of the bank today approved the sale of a part of its shareholding in ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd (Company) in an initial public offering (IPO) by the Company," ICICI Bank said in a regulatory filing.

With this, ICICI Lombard is all set to become the first private sector general insurer in the country to go public. Fairfax, led by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa, will own 22.1 percent of the insurer after its planned sale of a 12.2 percent stake in ICICI Lombard to an affiliate of Warburg Pincus and two other investors is completed.

Fairfax's stake sales valued ICICI Lombard at Rs 20,300 crore. The selling of stake is subject to requisite approvals and market conditions, the lender said.

"The size and other details of the offer would be determined in due course," ICICI Bank said. ICICI Lombard, formed in 2001, is a joint venture between country's largest private sector ICICI Bank and Prem Watsa-run Fairfax Financial Holdings with a valuation of Rs 20,300 crore.