CCI approves Bharti group's proposal to buy out AXA's 49% stake

Bharti, which owns India’s No. 2 telecom carrier Bharti Airtel, also operates Bharti Realty and runs packaged foods company Del Monte Foods Pvt Ltd in India in partnership with Del Monte Pacific.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on November 7 approved Bharti Group's acquisition of French insurer AXA's 49 percent-stake in life insurance joint venture, taking its total shareholding to 100 percent in the company that was jointly run for nearly two decades.

"The proposed combination relates to the acquisition of 49% shareholding of Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Limited. (BALIC) by Bharti Life Ventures Private Limited (BLVPL) from AXA India Holdings (“AXA”) (“Proposed Transaction 1”) taking its total shareholding in BALIC to 100% and acquisition of BALIC’s sole control," the anti-trust regulator said in a statement.

It also added that the detailed order of the CCI will follow.

Meanwhile, reports have earlier suggested that Bharti was in talks with other investors to scale up the business by partnering or combining with their entities.

AXA was looking to exit the JV over the last couple of years. Earlier, the Hinduja Group and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) were looking to buy Axa's stake in the insurance company but the transaction did not go through.

AXA had earlier exited another JV with Bharti. In 2020, Bharti AXA General Insurance was merged with ICICI Lombard in 2020 in deal that saw AXA sell its stake in ICICI Lombard.

According to a Reuters report in October, the acquisition is said to be completed by December 2023.

Further, CCI also approved the proposal for the acquisition of 48.5 percent stake of Bharti Management Services Limited (BMSL) by Bharti Enterprise Limited (BEL) from Societe Beaujon.

"The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved acquisition of certain stake of BALIC by BLVPL, from AXA India Holdings and the acquisition of certain shareholding of BMSL by BEL from Societe Beaujon...BLVPL and BEL, which are the ‘Acquirers’ to the Proposed Transaction, belong to the Bharti group," the official statement read.

BEL is a public unlisted company incorporated in India. It is involved in the provision of management consultancy services."

Bharti, which owns India’s No. 2 telecom carrier Bharti Airtel, also operates Bharti Realty and runs packaged foods company Del Monte Foods Pvt Ltd in India in partnership with Del Monte Pacific.

(with inputs from Reuters)