Bank of India to have 51 pc stake in life insurance JV

Public-sector Bank of India, which has formalised an agreement with Dai-Ichi of Japan for setting up a Rs 250-crore life insurance firm, will have a 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, a top bank official said on Friday.

Dai-Ichi, the sixth biggest life insurer in Japan, will have a 26 per cent stake in the JV, while another partner Union Bank of India will hold 23 per cent, BOI Executive Director K R Kamath told a press meet here.

The name of the company, is likely to be 'Star Union Dai-Ichi' and the registration process was going on, he said.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

Apollo acquires Zavata

Apollo Health Street, a global healthcare outsourcing arm of the Apollo group, on Thursday announced the acquisition of Atlanta-based BPO and enterprise support solutions company, Zavata Inc, for Rs 697 crore.

"The fourth acquisition for Apollo Health Street and the second in the US provider space, it strengthens AHS's position as a leading provider of outsourcing solutions to the healthcare industry," Apollo Chairman Prathap C Reddy said.

While the Bank of India and Barclays Capital had structured a debt to the tune of Rs.550 crore, the rest would be from internal generation for the acquisition, he said.

It also makes the combined organisation the largest focused healthcare BPO organisation in the country with a significant IT business, he said.The combined oganisation will have more than 100 customers and over 2,500 employees spread across multiple locations in the US and in India.The company was coming up with a back office at Chennai, which would employ 400 persons initially, which would go upto 2,000, he said.

Read more in The DNA Money article.

Bank of India acquires 76% in Indonesian bank

Public sector lender Bank of India said on 22 June it has acquired a 76% stake in Indonesia-based PT Bank Swadesi for an undisclosed amount.The bank has signed an acquisition deed for acquiring majority stake in PT Bank Swadesi, BoI said in a communique to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

This is the first overseas acquisition by BoI, which has a representative office in Jakarta, and is expected to enhance its international operations in Indonesia.
Bank Swadesi is a mid-sized bank, operating in Indonesia for the last 38 years and has 16 outlets. Bank Swadesi has a licence for forex business and is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

Earlier in 11 December 2006, BoI had said that it would acquire 76% stake PT Bank Swadesi Tbk and had signed a conditional sale-purchase agreement for this purpose with majority shareholders of the Indonesian firm.

The acquisition would be completed after obtaining approval or confirmations from Bank Indonesia and capital market regulators in Indonesia, BoI had said.
This would be the second acquisition of a bank in Indonesia by an Indian lender after State Bank of India bought 76% stake in Bank Indomonex.BoI shares were trading at Rs223.50, up 3.40%, in afternoon trade on BSE.

Banks, FIs' overseas M&A funding jumps three-fold

Indian corporate houses have stepped up the tempo for overseas mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in 2006-07. Keeping pace with the momentum, Indian banks, with extensive global branch network, have raised the volume of funding to Indian entities for M&As.

In 2006-07, the overseas M&A funding by state-owned banks and financial institutions - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda (BOB) , Bank of India (BOI) and Export and Import Bank of India (Exim) -- was close to $2 billion, almost a three-fold increase over the previous financial year. Private sector major ICICI Bank bags the top slot. However, bank officials refused to divulge the numbers. SBI's direct funding was close to $1 billion, BOI ($450 million), BOB ($370 million) and Exim Bank (over $400 million).

The size of funding by Indian banks is small compared with their their global counterparts due to the small balance sheet size.ICICI Bank's deputy managing director Chanda Kochhar said her bank assistance stands on three strands - advisory, structuring the finance for M&A deal and underwriting and syndication of funds.In a particular deal ICICI takes about 25 per cent funding exposure on its book and the balance 75 per cent is syndicated, she said.

Read more in The Business Standard article.