| June 16, 2009: SBI Life Insurance and Reliance Life Insurance will wait for the Insurance Laws Amendment Bill 2008 to be cleared in Parliament before taking any listing-related decision. The bill is likely to be placed in Parliament soon as the UPA-II government has included it in its 100-day programme. The development assumes significance as promoters of both companies have recently said they intended to offload a portion of their stakes. While SBI Life Insurance is looking at an IPO, Reliance Life too is weighing the option of a mix of IPO and strategic sale. Significantly, the Insurance Laws Amendment Bill proposes to dispense with the mandatory requirement of listing life insurance companies within 10 years of operation. “If the mandatory listing norm is done away with, an IPO will become a commercial requirement rather than a legal one. In that case, SBI Life will go for an IPO on the basis of fund requirements,” SBI Life MD US Roy told ET. Added Reliance Life CEO Sam Ghosh: “We are weighing a couple of options, including an IPO or induction of a strategic investor or both. We are awaiting clarity on the IPO norms for life insurance companies after which a decision will be taken.” “Options being weighed include a 10-26% divestment through an IPO or induction of a partner who could be given about 26%. We could also go for a combination of both. Induction of a foreign partner can be done any day as guidelines are available. But the IPO norms need to be notified by the government,” said Mr Ghosh.
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