ICICI to move ahead with its plan to increase 4% stake in Lombard business

ICICI Bank is set to raise its stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance by four percentage points after its board approves the decision. In an exchange filing on May 28, the bank said the process would involve multiple transactions.

According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks can either hold less than 30 per cent or more than 50 per cent stake in an insurance business, reported Moneycontrol (MC). The decision to increase the stake by four per cent will take ICICI Bank's ownership in the ICICI insurance business beyond 52 per cent, consistent with the RBI rule.

Earlier, ICICI Bank wanted to dilute its stake in the insurance business below 30 per cent, the MC report said. In a similar move, The RBI had given the HDFC Bank the permission to increase its take in HDFC Life Insurance and HDFC Ergo General Insurance beyond 50 per cent.

The ICICI Bank also informed the exchanges that its board had decided to reappoint Sandeep Batra as executive director for two more years, from December 23, 2023, to December 22, 2025, the report said. However, this decision is yet to receive RBI's approval.

Apart from Sandeep Batra, Hari Mundra, B Sriram, and S Madhvan also got extensions for a second term by the ICICI board, MC reported.