Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and AZB & Partners have advised on Zurich Insurance Company’s $488 million acquisition of a majority stake in Kotak Mahindra General Insurance Company from Kotak Mahindra Bank.
The transaction represents the single largest investment by a global strategic insurer in the Indian non-life insurance sector.
Under this deal, Zurich Insurance will acquire 51 percent stake in Kotan Mahindra General Insurance through a combination of fresh growth capital and share purchase. Zurich Insurance will acquire an additional stake of up to 19 percent over time, the life insurer said in a statement.
“India is expected to become the third largest global economy by 2030 and presents significant untapped potential for the development of insurance solutions,” Zurich Insurance said in a statement.
The CAM team advising Zurich Insurance was led by partner Indranath Bishnu, who was supported by employment partner Ankita Ray and antitrust partner Kirthi Srinivas.
Bishnu has advised on a plethora of top deals in the insurance sector, including Life Insurance Corporation of India’s (LIC) record-breaking $2.7 billion IPO, the demerger of Bharti AXA’s general insurance business, and the State Bank of India Life Insurance $1.3 billion IPO.
The Freshfields team advising Zurich was led by partner and global co-head of M&A Robert Ashworth and partners Jon Bowden and Arun Balasubramanian, with support from IP partner Richard Bird.
AZB represented Kotak Mahinda Bank in this transaction.
