ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s board has approved a proposal to change the company’s name to ICICI Life Insurance Limited, after its joint venture partner, UK-based Prudential, sought to be reclassified from a promoter to an investor following its planned acquisition of a controlling stake in Bharti Life Insurance.
The proposed name change will require approvals from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), shareholders, stock exchanges and other regulatory authorities.
The board also approved starting the process to seek IRDAI’s approval to reclassify Prudential Corporation Holdings Limited from a promoter to an investor. The move follows a request from Prudential dated July 5.
“The Board has approved the proposal for change of name of the Company from ‘ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited’ to ‘ICICI Life Insurance Limited’, subject to prior approval of IRDAI and relevant approvals,” the insurer said in a stock exchange filing.
The company also said non-executive director Naveen Tahilyani resigned from the board with effect from July 6.
The changes come after Prudential Plc announced last month that it would acquire a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance from the Bharti Group. Following the proposed deal, Prudential said it no longer wanted to be classified as a promoter of ICICI Prudential Life and instead sought investor status under IRDAI’s ownership rules.
As a result, the insurer was required to reduce its holding in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance below 10% from the current 21.91% and to cease being classified as a promoter.
