ICICI Bank to raise holding in ICICI Lombard General by 4% to 52 pc by next year

New Delhi: ICICI Bank has said its Board has approved a plan to raise its stake in general insurance arm ICICI Lombard by 4 per cent in the next 16 months.

The bank holds a 48.02 per cent stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, ICICI Bank said in a regulatory filing.

At the current trading market price, the bank will have to shell out about Rs 2,352.5 crore to acquire a 4 per cent shareholding.

The bank, in March, had said the Reserve Bank had asked ICICI Bank to bring down its holding to less than 30 per cent in ICICI Lombard by September 9, 2024.

However, the Board approved an increase in shareholding in the company, in multiple tranches up to 4 per cent additional shareholding, as permissible under applicable law, to ensure compliance with Section 19(2) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and make the company, a subsidiary of the bank, subject to receipt of necessary regulatory approval.

The bank would acquire at least a 2.5 per cent stake out of the above 4 per cent to make the insurer its subsidiary before September 9, 2024, it said.

The Board also approved the reappointment of Executive Director Sandeep Batra for a further period of two years with effect from December 23, 2023, to December 22, 2025, subject to the RBI approval.

Besides, it said, the board also cleared the reappointment of independent director Hari Mundra for one year, while it extended the term for independent directors B Sriram and S Madhavan by three years each.

Shares of ICICI Lombard surged 8.19 per cent to close at Rs 1,190 apiece on BSE.