AXA Group To Sell Its Entire Stake In ICICI Lombard

France’s AXA Group plans to sell its entire shareholding in ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co., according to a Bloomberg report, days after the Indian insurer completed the merger of Bharti AXA General Insurance Co.

Societe Beaujon, the investment holding company of AXA Group, has put up for sale 1.75 crore shares of ICICI Lombard—representing 3.85% stake in the general insurer—in a block deal at a price range of Rs 1,497.9 to Rs 1,576.7 apiece, Bloomberg reported.

That’s a near 5% discount to its closing price on Oct. 4 on the BSE. The share sale, according to BloombergQuint’s calculations, is expected to range between Rs 2,621.4 crore and Rs 2,759.3 crore.

BNP Paribas has been appointed as the sole placement agent for the transaction, Bloomberg reported.

ICICI Lombard completed the acquisition of Bharti AXA General Insurance, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises Ltd. and French insurer AXA, on Sept. 8, 2021. Under the all-stock deal announced in August 2020, ICICI Lombard had allotted a total of 3.58 crore equity shares of the shareholders of Bharti AXA—1.82 crore shares to Bharti General Ventures and 1.75 crore shares to Societe Beaujon.