ICICI Bank and Prudential Agree to Address Conflict-of-Interest Issues Amid Approaching Bharti Life Deal

Mumbai, India

ICICI Bank and Prudential Corp. Holdings have signed a letter of undertaking, under which the UK insurer will temporarily give up board representation and abstain from voting on matters requiring special resolutions at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. This move is in line with Prudential's pursuit of acquiring a controlling stake in Bharti Life Insurance, as per exchange filings on Sunday.

The undertaking, signed between the two promoters of ICICI Prudential Life on Saturday, aims to address potential conflicts of interest arising from Prudential's proposed acquisition of Bharti Life. The agreement comes ahead of ICICI Prudential Life applying to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) to reclassify Prudential from a promoter to an investor. ICICI Prudential Life clarified in a separate filing that it is not a party to the undertaking.

The undertaking is subject to ICICI Prudential Life's board and applicable regulatory approvals. It also provides for the possibility of a name change if ICICI Prudential Life decides to remove "Prudential" following Prudential's reclassification. In this event, the UK insurer has agreed to support the transition, including limited use of the Prudential brand and the iciciprulife.com domain.