ICICI Prudential Board Approves Reclassification of Prudential as Investor

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Approves Reclassification of Prudential Plc as Investor

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd has approved the reclassification of British insurer Prudential Plc from a promoter to an investor, as the latter prepares to form a new insurance venture with the Sunil Mittal-led Bharti group, in which it will hold a majority stake. The life insurer's board approved seeking approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) to reclassify Prudential Corp. Holdings Ltd. It also approved seeking the regulator's nod to rename the company to ICICI Life Insurance Ltd.

The approval comes a day after joint promoter Prudential sent a letter to the insurer to initiate the process for reclassification as an investor of the company. The life insurer notified the exchanges on Monday that "The Board has considered and approved Prudential’s request for reclassification from ‘Promoter’ to ‘Investor’." It also notified the resignation of non-executive director Naveen Tahilyani from its board, effective 6 July.

As of 30 June, Prudential held 21.89% stake in the insurer, whereas ICICI Bank held 50.84%. Regulations require the foreign promoter to reduce its stake in the company to below 10% and cease to be a promoter before it can proceed with its venture with the Bharti group and become the promoter of another life insurance company in the country.