(Reuters) – Reliance group-owned Jio Financial Services has reached a preliminary agreement with Germany’s Allianz SE to form an insurance business in India, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
This comes after Allianz earlier this week agreed to sell its 26% stake in its non-life and life insurance joint ventures with Bajaj Finserv to the Bajaj Group for around 2.6 billion euros ($2.82 billion).
Bloomberg said that billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio and Allianz were in the process of finalising the ownership structure.
Allianz is aiming for a majority stake in the venture but is also open to securing governance rights with a path to taking control in the future, the report said.
Allianz and Jio Financial did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comments.
The German insurer has said that India remains an important growth market and that it would explore new opportunities that strengthen its position in the country’s insurance market.
($1 = 0.9227 euros)
(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
