No equity deal for tie-up with Berkshire: Bajaj Finserv

Bajaj Finserv managing director Sanjiv Bajaj said on Monday that the tie-up with Warren Buffett-promoted Berkshire Hathaway was purely an "operational" tie-up, and there was no equity tie-up.

Bajaj Finserv shares were down nearly 4% to Rs 525 early Monday, but are still up 20% from the level just before the deal with Berkshire was announced. The US-based insurer last week said it would sell general insurance products through its online distribution portal and a telemarketing channel on behalf of Bajaj Allianz. In an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18's Udayan Mukherjee and Mitali Mukherjee, Bajaj said, "Allianz is expected to take stake to 49% if foreign direct investment is allowed. We are also looking at launching our mutual fund business with Allianz next year and have started cutting down on products demanding higher commissions." Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview. Also watch the accompanying video. Q: The market refuses to believe your multiple clarifications that this is not a prelude to any kind of an equity linkage between you and Berkshire Hathaway. Can you categorically confirm that again? A: I wonder sometimes if the market knows more than we do. On a more serious note yes, it's only an operational arrangement between Berkshire and our general insurance company, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. I can clearly state that there is nothing else on the cards right now. Q: We understand that Warren Buffett is quite keen on meeting the IRDA head as well. In the future has there been any conversation of changing the contours of this relationship or getting into different avenues of insurance with Berkshire? A: I can again clarify that, other than an operational arrangement and that also between the two operating teams; there is nothing else at this stage. Berkshire has been looking for sometime to enter India and there are some common people at both ends who knew each other for the last many years. This is why, they drew comfort from the fact that we have built our business in a stable and profitable manner and that