Bermuda-based global reinsurance company Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Limited (FSR) is planning to enter the primary insurance business in India within a year.
Mark Byrne, executive chairman, FSR, said the company was looking for local partners for the primary insurance business and was ready to invest $30 million (about Rs 126 crore) in the new venture. It would hold a 49 per cent stake in the new company.
“We are looking for a financial services company that can bring in a distribution network,” he said, adding that the company was scouting for domestic partners through its own network and some investment banks.
Addressing a press conference following the inauguration of FSR’s Rs 65-crore Knowledge and Research Centre (KRC) in the financial district on Thursday, Byrne said the company has an underwriting capacity of $1.6-billion.
FSR, which has a representative office in Mumbai, has been in the reinsurance business in India for the past 30 months. It has invested $30 million in its Indian operations so far.
“The investment in the proposed primary insurance company will be at a similar level or a slightly bigger scale,” Byrne said, pointing out that there were eight partnerships in India between overseas and domestic companies in the primary insurance sector.
Venkat Mandava, chief information officer, FSR, said the company would only opt for general insurance in the primary insurance sector. The NYSE-listed FSR has 800 clients globally and four in India.