Life Insurance Corp to set up housing venture capital
24 Aug 2009
Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC) and its associates will hold a majority stake in the real estate venture capital fund to be floated by LIC Housing Finance Ltd, says a top company official.
"The majority stake will be with the LIC group. However, the actual percentage and other details as to the joint venture partner are yet to be decided," LIC Housing director and chief executive R.R. Nair said.
The venture capital fund's initial corpus size is expected to be around Rs.500 crore, though Nair said there will be more clarity on the project Aug 29 when the board meets.
The new company's name will depend on the partner chosen for the venture, he added.
LIC Housing, which funds home purchases, finds floating a venture capital fund a natural extension of its business.
"The real estate venture capital is a step towards widening our income basket. Currently, we get interest income from the housing company and fee-based income from the financial services outfit. The venture capital fund will provide income from shares," Nair said.
The real estate fund will invest in companies operating in the field such as developers and construction companies. In June, AIG said it was placing Alico and AIA Group into special-purpose vehicles ahead of planned IPOs. As part of the plan, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York received preferred interests in those SPVs. That move was intended to cut AIG's outstanding debt owed on a credit facility with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to $15 billion from $40 billion.
LIC is the second largest real estate owner in the country after the Indian Railways.
According to officials, foraying into venture capital segment is not connected with the restrictions faced by LIC under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority's (IRDA) investment regulations on investing in unlisted companies.
Resource:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4929546.cms |
