Torrent group to make Rs 2,900-cr bid for Reliance Nippon Life Insurance

NL Correspondent
Jammu, Sep 23
Ahmedabad-based Torrent group is planning to make an offer for Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Company (RNLIC), a
51:49 joint venture between Reliance Capital (RCap) and Nippon Life of Japan. Reliance Capital is undergoing a
bankruptcy process and the administrator had sought offers for the entire company and for its various business clusters.
During the process, no offers were received for the life insurance business even as the lenders received indicative offers
for the entire company and for various other companies owned by Reliance Capital.
Bankers close to the deal said a valuer appointed by the administrator for the life insurance business pegged the
embedded value of the company at Rs 5,800 crore. Based on this valuation, Torrent is planning to make an investment of
Rs 2,900 crore to acquire 51 per cent in the RNLIC, a source said. When contacted, a Torrent spokesperson declined to
comment. If successful, the investment will mark the entry of Ahmedabad-based Torrent Group into the financial services
business, which already has a presence in the power, city gas distribution, and pharmaceuticals businesses. In August, the
committee of creditors (CoC) had received six bids for Reliance Capital as an entire company. The bidders included Torrent
group, IndusInd International, Oaktree, Cosmea Financial, Authum Investment, and B-Right Real Estate. These companies
had submitted indicative bids in the range of Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 4,500 crore for Reliance Capital. These offers were
subject to completion of due diligence.
For the profit-making Reliance General Insurance business, Piramal Finance had bid Rs 4,000 crore, while Zurich
Insurance's offer was Rs 3,500 crore.
Advent, a private equity firm, had made the highest bid of Rs 7,000 crore for Reliance General Insurance.
These bidders then sought time till early next year to make a binding bid citing delay in due diligence. The
lenders, however, gave time only till October end to make the binding offer.