Indiabulls ties up with French insurance company

MUMBAI: Aiming to tap two to three per cent of the domestic life insurance market by 2010, Indiabulls Financial Services has tied up with Sogecap -- the insurance arm of French financial major Societe Generale (SocGen).
    
"We have entered a joint venture with Sogecap in which we have the majority 74 per cent stake. The JV will have an initial capital of Rs 300 crore," IBFSL'S Director Gagan Banga said.
    
Sogecap is the third largest insurance company in France and has presence in 10 countries.
    
SocGen has already a strong presence in India having 35 per cent stake in SBI Mutual Fund, a leading fund house in the country. It also acquired Kolkata-based NBFC Apeejay Finance.
    
Banga said the JV -- Indiabulls Societe Generale Life Insurance would aim for 2-3 per cent of the domestic life insurance business by 2010, which is expected to grow to Rs two lakh crore by that time.
    
Indiabulls, he said, may also go for non-life insurance business on a later date, but Banga declined to give any time-frame.
    
On the life-insurance business, Banga said, IBFSL has already bagged the apex bank's approval for investing in the JV, while it was awaiting insurance regulator IRDA's nod.
    
"We hope to get the IRDA approval in the next four months," Banga said.
    
Since Indiabulls has a strong presence over 200 cities in India, the JV would use the network to distribute its products. Indiabulls is already the largest corporate agent for Max New York Life.