Generali confident of closing acquisition of additional stake in its Indian JV -CEO (updated)

Future Enterprises

15/03/2022 13:23

(Adds background, details)
    MILAN, March 15 (Reuters) - Generali  GASI.MI  is confident
it will finalise the acquisition of a bigger stake in its Indian
joint venture Future Generali after an Indian court cleared the
path for the deal last week, Chief Executive Philippe Donnet
said on Tuesday. 
    Italy's biggest insurer agreed in January to buy a 25% stake
in Future Generali India Insurance from its joint venture
partner, debt-laden Future Group, for 145 million euros ($159.37
million), giving the Italian group 74% ownership of the venture.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2U71F7
    A Mumbai city court late last month put on hold the deal
after a legal challenge by some bondholders of Future Group 
companies that had defaulted. 
    IDBI Trusteeship, the group representing the bondholders,
said that they had rights mandating Future Enterprises not to
dilute its stake in Future Generali, a source had said.     
    However, last week an Indian court cleared the path for the
sale, setting aside the city court's order.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2VB074
    "The completion of the acquisition is obviously subject to
regulatory approvals. And definitely, this acquisition is still
on the table," Donnet said in a post-results analyst call.
    He added he was "confident that it's going to happen".
    The Competition Commission of India (CCI), one of the
authorities whose green light is needed for the stake sale, said
on Twitter on Tuesday it approved the deal. 
    


($1 = 0.9098 euros)

 (Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; editing by Giulia Segreti and
Susan Fenton)
 ((gianluca.semeraro@tr.com; +39 06 80 307 741;))