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Indiabulls Financial Services and Sogecap have ended their agreement to set up an Life Insurance JV In India. Rumour has it that Sogecap, which is the insurance arm of Societe Generale of France, has made this move as a result of the financial problems faced by it internationally in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Indiabulls is keen on pursuing with the venture and might be on the look out for new partners. Indiabulls and Sogecap had entered the JV agreement in April 2008 where in Indiabulls was to hold 49.5% in the venture, promoters of Indiabulls another 24.5% and Socgen the remaining 26%, which was changed in September 2008, replacing the individual promoters with another group company Indiabulls Securities. Under the agreement Sogecap has already paid Rs 150 crore - including premium (what will happen to this money??). The entity was to be named "Indiabulls Societe Generale Life Insurance Co Ltd." with total initial capital of Rs. 300 Cr. In October this year, we had covered an article reporting that Indiabulls had received the required approval to hold 74% stake in the JV. The venture was to be operational by March this year; however the delay was caused by Sogecap. Societe Generale's financial results in the last few quarters highlight the problems it is facing. SG’s net income of $441 Mn in Q2 2009 compared favorably to a net loss of $397 Mn in the prior quarter, but was still well down from net income of $920 Mn in Q2 2008. The Sogecap is present in over 10 countries and is the third largest insurance major in France. It is among the largest players in Eastern Europe and has presence in many West Asian countries, Russia and now in China. Incidently, a few other insurance JVs have also been dissolved in the recent past. Ergo's venture with Hero Group for setting up a life insurance company had collapsed recently ( Hero decides to concentrate on its core business!) and is looking for a new partner. US-based Principal Group will also need a new local partner for its life insurance operations as its existing ally Punjab National Bank (PNB) has already decided to discontinue the partnership.
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