Manulife Financial Corp of Canada and its Indian afflilate Standard Life Plc are among the bidders for the HSBC Plc's Indian life insurance unit. This stake is valued at US$200 million according to current valuations made by individuals familiar with the transaction who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Europe's largest bank, HSBC Plc is now offering its 26% shareholdings in a life insurance joint venture with two Indian state backed banks. This is a move in compliance with divestiture of non-core businesses globally under Basel III rules.
The winning bidder would be receiving a network of 5,500 branches of the banks. The partners in the venture are Canara Bank Ltd and Oriental Bank of Commerce Ltd and with the sale, the two may also end up lowering their shareholdings. This though is still subject to discussion between the venture partners. With their shareholdings added on to the sale, the value of the sale could climb to US$800 million including a bank distribution agreement.
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