British insurer Prudential said on Thursday it has sold a 4.5% stake in ICICI Prudential Asset Management for 49 billion rupees (about $545 million) ahead of the Indian fund manager’s $1.2 billion IPO that opens on Friday.
The fund house is a joint venture between ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest private lender, which holds 51%, and Prudential, which owns the rest.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the family offices of Azim Premji and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, and Indian insurers including SBI Life, HDFC Life and Go Digit General Insurance bought the shares from Prudential. ICICI Bank also bought shares worth 21.40 billion rupees.
ICICI Prudential Asset Management will not issue any new shares at the IPO where only Prudential will sell a 10% stake. The stock is expected to list on exchanges on December 19.
Prudential said proceeds from the private placement and the IPO will be returned to shareholders, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
($1 = 90.0170 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Kashish Tandon）
