Page 11 - Insurance Times September 2019

Health Insurance

News

HDFC gets nod for 51.2% Aditya Birla Health Insurance signs bancassurance pact
stake buy in Apollo with Axis Bank
Aditya Birla Health Insurance (ABHI) and Axis Bank have entered into a
Munich Health Insurance bancassurance partnership, through which ABHI will
The Competition Commission has offer health insurance solutions to the Axis bank’s cus-
given ap- tomers across its 4,094 branches and digital channels.
proval to Mayank Bathwal, CEO, Aditya Birla Health Insurance
HDF C's
said, “We are delighted to have Axis Bank, one of the
acquisi- most trusted brands in the banking sector, as our 10th bancassurance partner.
tion of
This collaboration is a step further towards strengthening our distribution reach
5 1.20% and offering significant health protection solutions to Axis Bank customers.
stake in Apollo Munich Health In-
Through Axis Bank’s robust presence across the country, we aim to further in-
surance and subsequently merger
crease health insurance penetration in India.’’
of the latter into HDFC Ergo in a
deal worth nearly Rs 1,347 crore. Pralay Mondal, Group Executive and Head Retail Banking, Axis Bank said, “As
part of our consistent endeavour to provide holistic solutions, the Bank is ex-
HDFC agreed to acquire Apollo Hos- cited to partner with Aditya Birla Health Insurance and thereby offer innova-
pitals Group's entire 50.8% stake in tive health insurance solutions to all our valued Metro, Urban and Rural cus-
Apollo Munich Health for Rs 1,336 tomers. Through this partnership we are expanding our existing bouquet of
crore and also the 0.4% stake held offerings and putting forth a compelling proposition for our customers.’’
by a few employees for Rs 10.84
crore. Max Bupa, Bank of Baroda tie up with Feeding India
HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh had Max Bupa Health Insurance and Bank of Baroda have joined their hands with
said the deal will have two steps, Feeding India, a not-for-profit organization, to launch
HDFC first acquiring 51.2% in Apollo the ‘SwasthaNeev’, which is an initiative to cover vari-
Munich Health and then merging it ous hunger points, across 100 cities.
with HDFC Ergo. The merger with Bank of Baroda and Max Bupa Health Insurance aim
HDFC Ergo will create a strong to feed 1,12,000 meals to the underprivileged citi-
health insurance franchise with zens, within a span of two months. The initiative is focused to contribute to
combined gross direct premium of the nation’s fight against hunger and enable the underprivileged citizens so that
Rs 10,807 crore, Parekh had said. In they can lead healthier lives. Vikramaditya Singh Khichi, executive director, Bank
a tweet, the fair trade regulator of Baroda and Ashish Mehrotra, MD and CEO, Max Bupa Health Insurance,
said it "approves the acquisition of launched the initiative and pledged to serve as ‘Hunger.
51.20% shareholding of Apollo Ashish Mehrotra, MD and CEO, Max Bupa Health Insurance said, "Through the
Munich by HDFC and subsequently
‘SwasthNeev’ initiative, we along with our partner Bank of Baroda will contrib-
merger of Apollo Munich into HDFC ute towards helping the needy meet their basic need of daily nutrition and in
ERGO." turn contribute towards improving the health of the nation.”

The Insurance Times, September 2019 11