Life Insurance Corp to set up housing venture capital
August 24th, 2009 - 8:44 pm ICT by IANSIndo-Asian News Service
Chennai, Aug 24 (IANS) 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 told IANS.
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.
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.
- LIC Housing eying banking and other financial services - Sep 24, 2010
- CEO's arrest may hit future plans of LIC Housing Finance - Nov 25, 2010
- Relax investment norms for private equity funds: CII - Aug 21, 2011
- Parliament okays LIC amendment bill - Dec 14, 2011
- World's richest man to hold stake in new Spanish bank - May 12, 2011
- Regulators' tussle leaves life insurers worried - Apr 11, 2010
- IDFC Pvt Equity invests Rs.150 crore in GVR Infra - Jul 22, 2011
- Insurance firms might find draft bancassurance guidelines difficult - Jan 03, 2012
- Scrapped insurance products bring actuaries in spotlight - Oct 24, 2010
- Proposed new insurance norms may adversely impact mergers (Lead) - Jul 03, 2011
- Indian Bank seeks partners for merchant banking and MF business - Jul 25, 2010
- Bharti AXA to infuse Rs.200 crore additional capital in 2012 - Mar 05, 2012
- LIC ties up with regional bank for rural reach - Oct 29, 2011
- Nippon's pact for 26-percent stake in Reliance asset firm - Mar 22, 2012
- $100 mn Oman India investment fund to be launched soon - Jan 25, 2010
Tags: chennai, construction companies, crore, home purchases, housing company, indian railways, insurance regulatory and development authority, interest income, investment regulations, irda, joint venture, lic housing finance, lic housing finance ltd, life insurance, majority stake, nair, rs 500, venture capital fund, venture partner