Axis AIF exits SBI General for Rs 350 crore

Kolkata: Axis Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) sold its 1.27% stake in SBI General Insurance Co to two entities of IIFL Alternative Investment Funds for about ₹350 crore, people familiar with the matter told ET.

The privately placed deal was concluded in the last week of December. This marks the full divestment of Axis AIF's 1.65% stake in the insurer. Axis AIF bought the shares in September 2018 for about ₹200 crore. Axis AIF bought the shares through a scheme called Axis New Opportunities Fund AIF-I. "Axis AIF was looking to offload as the fund life was getting over," a person aware of the deal said. The first leg of the sale - 0.38% to Avendus Future Leaders Fund - happened earlier.

In the second leg, two entities of IIFL AIF - IIFL India Private Equity Fund-Series 1A and IIFL Special Opportunities Fund- Series 9 - bought out the stake.
The full divestment value is about ₹450-₹475 crore, according to Centrum Capital, which advised on the deals. Centrum Capital is the investment banking arm of the Centrum Group. Axis Asset Management Company, which runs the AIF, did not respond to ET's query. IIFL Asset Management Company did not want to comment. The deal marks renewed investor interest in the insurance space, which was badly hit by the pandemic.

"Despite a slowdown in PE investments across sectors and a post pandemic impact on insurance companies, there remains active interest in well managed Insurance companies, which have a strong growth potential," Centrum Capital MD for investment banking Rajendra Naik said. "We are actively working with marquee investors who are looking to deploy over ₹1,000 crore in the next six to 12 months in sector," he said.