The Hindu Business Line : SBI ties up with Australia's IAG for general insurance biz

MUMBAI: State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday announced a general insurance joint venture with Australia's Insurance Australia Group (IAG) and plans to commence the business in the current financial year.

SBI proposes to hold a 74 per cent stake in the joint venture with IAG the remaining 26 per cent, subject to regulatory approvals, a press release issued here stated. IAG is a well-known international insurance major.

Both the parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the purpose and both would now jointly work towards finalising a shareholders' agreement before approaching the regulatory authorities for their approval.

"Establishing a general insurance joint venture is a key element of SBI's strategy to pursue emerging, high-growth opportunities to build on our position as the pre-eminent financial services group in India,'' State Bank's Deputy Managing Director (Corpo rate Strategy & New Businesses), Deepak Chawla, said.

"IAG's proven capabilities in technical and underwriting expertise, pricing and risk management, and its track-record in working successfully with other partners in the Asian region, makes IAG an ideal partner. We look forward to working together to grow a successful general insurance business,'' Chawla said.

While SBI has over 100-million customers and 10,000-plus branches pan-India, IAG underwrites more than AUD 7.5-billion of premium per annum. - PTI

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