Max Financial to raise Rs 5K cr to fund insurance biz

Max Financial Services (MFS) plans to raise Rs 5,000 crore through preference issue and qualified institutional placement to fund growth in its subsidiary firm Max Life Insurance.
Max Life has been seeking acquisition opportunities in the life insurance space, with a special focus on insurers with strong distribution franchise, MFS said today.
"The company will raise Rs 5,000 crore through a preferential issue/qualified institutional placement.
"The proceeds from the transaction/issue will be invested in the company's subsidiary Max Life Insurance to actively pursue growth opportunities through acquisitions," MFS said in a statement.
The company also informed that Max Life's AUM has crossed the Rs 50,000 crore mark for the first time.

Commenting on the growth ambitions, Rahul Khosla, President, Max Group and Chairman, Max Life Insurance said, "Max Life is well capitalised and continues to deliver strong growth through a well-balanced product portfolio, high quality distribution partnerships and a market leading agency force".

The company will also pursue inorganic growth opportunities and is actively seeking high quality life insurance assets, he said.
"Enabled by the fund raising approved by the MFS Board today, we are committed to continue providing the capital the business needs to fulfil its growth aspirations," Khosla said.
There is now sharper focus than ever before to deliver on new avenues of growth, including through bancassurance and acquisition opportunities. Acquiring a high quality life insurance company would enable expansion on both these fronts, said Mohit Talwar, Managing Director, Max Financial Services.

"Max Life has been on a steady growth trajectory over the past 5-6 years, with remarkable improvements in its key health metrics such as Embedded Value (EV), Value of New Business (VNB) and New Business Margin (NBM)," Talwar said.