Generali CEO Confident of Closing on Additional Stake in Its Indian Joint Venture

Generali is confident it will finalize the acquisition of a bigger stake in its Indian joint venture Future Generali after an Indian court cleared the path for the deal last week, Chief Executive Philippe Donnet said on Tuesday.

Italy’s biggest insurer agreed in January to buy a 25% stake in Future Generali India Insurance from its joint venture partner, debt-laden Future Group, for 145 million euros ($159.37 million), giving the Italian group 74% ownership of the venture.

A Mumbai city court late last month put on hold the deal after a legal challenge by some bondholders of Future Group companies that had defaulted.

IDBI Trusteeship, the group representing the bondholders, said that they had rights mandating Future Enterprises not to dilute its stake in Future Generali, a source had said.

However, last week an Indian court cleared the path for the sale, setting aside the city court’s order.

“The completion of the acquisition is obviously subject to regulatory approvals. And definitely, this acquisition is still on the table,” Donnet said in a post-results analyst call.

He added he was “confident that it’s going to happen.”

The Competition Commission of India (CCI), one of the authorities whose green light is needed for the stake sale, said on Twitter on Tuesday it approved the deal.

($1 = 0.9098 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; editing by Giulia Segreti and Susan Fenton)