Safecrop Holdings, a consortium of investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and private equity firms WestBridge Capital and Madison Capital, has agreed to take over Star Health and Allied Insurance Company.
Established in 2006, Star Health also offers a range of services including health insurance, overseas mediclaim as well as personal accident policies. The Chennai-based firm has a workforce of nearly 11,000.
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The insurer reported a profit after tax of INR1.71bn ($24.4m) for the year ended 31 March 2018 and has a market share of 10.6% in the health insurance market.
The consortium will acquire the Indian insurer from existing shareholders including Star Health Investments, ICICI Venture, Tata Capital and Apis Partners.
The deal, whose financial terms were not revealed, is subject to regulatory approvals.
WestBridge Capital co-founder and managing director Sumir Chadha said: “We believe the retail health insurance industry will continue to grow at a healthy pace in the coming decade, driven by increasing penetration.
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By GlobalData“This aligns well with WestBridge’s investing philosophy and long-time horizon. We are highly confident of Star’s business model and believe that Star will continue to lead the retail health insurance space.”
Star Health chairman and managing director V Jagannathan added: “We feel new investors, with their abundance experience and golden touch, will enable the company to scale further heights.”
