Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Housing Development Finance Corporation, one of the largest mortgage lender, and Max Group have agreed to evaluate possibilities of merging their life insurance units.
Max Financial Services Limited informed the stock exchange on Friday that the Board of Directors of Max Financial Services Limited at its Board meeting held on June 17, 2016, approved entering into a confidentiality, exclusivity and standstill agreement to evaluate a potential combination through a merger of Max Life Insurance Company Limited and Max Financial Services Limited into HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited by way of a scheme of arrangement.
The boards of HDFC Life also approved entering into agreement to evaluate merger with Max Financial Services Limited and Max Life Insurance.
Max Financial has around 68 percent stake in Max Life. On the other hand, HDFC owns 61.63 percent in HDFC Life, while 35 percent stake is held by UK's Standard Life.
The merger of Max Life, Max Financial Services and Standard Life will create the largest ever private life insurers in the country.
According to industry experts, the merger will create a company with a market cap of Rs 50,000 crore, with a market share of around 12.4 percent, more than ICICI Pru's market share of around 11 percent.