SBI to divest its stake in SBI Life Insurance

State Bank of India (SBI) , India’s largest bank has announced its intention to offload upto 5 per cent of its stake in life insurance entity – SBI Life Insurance. The stake will be sold to a non promoter entity.

SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture between SBI and BNP Paribas Cardif, in which SBI owns 74 per cent and the remaining stake is held by BNP Paribas Cardif i.e 26 per cent. 

SBI Life Insurance is one of the leading life insurers in India. The company has collected a total gross written premium (GWP) of Rs 15,825 crore, of which Rs 7,107 crore is new business premium and Rs 8,719 crore is renewal premium. SBI Life Insurance has a total market share of 5.1 per cent for 2015-16. The compnay however has 17.3 per cent share in the private market.

SBI's scrip shut shop at 251.90 on Friday, closing up by Rs 2.20 per share or 0.88 per cent. 52 week high for the share is Rs 271.55 per share.