According to a report by The Economic Times, the Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Group is in advanced discussions to sell a majority stake of up to 85% in Bharti AXA Life Insurance to UK-based Prudential Plc in a deal estimated to be worth between ₹7,000 crore and ₹8,000 crore. For Bharti, this is a big shift—it’s basically planning to step out of the life insurance business. The deal’s still going through due diligence and, like always, they need all the usual regulatory approvals.
What’s really striking is the price. Just last year, Bharti sold a 15% stake to 360 ONE (formerly IIFL Wealth), which put Bharti AXA’s value at around ₹3,000 crore. Now, the numbers have more than doubled. India’s insurance sector has been re-rated—it’s common for deals to happen at 1.5 to 2 times the embedded value now. Experts also say this higher price includes a “control premium” since Prudential wants to run the company itself.
For Prudential, buying into Bharti AXA Life means it can ramp up its presence in India, which still has plenty of room to grow in life insurance. Changes to FDI rules now let foreign companies own up to 74%, making a deal like this possible. This would be in addition to Prudential’s current 21.93% stake in ICICI Prudential Life, plus its more recent tie-up with HCL Group to get into health insurance.
The plan is for Prudential to pick up Bharti’s entire 85% stake, while 360 ONE keeps its 15% share. Bharti’s looking to use the cash from this sale to focus on its main business—telecom. And it helps that Bharti AXA Life is on stronger ground now, after increasing its solvency ratio to 2.41 times, following a ₹461 crore capital infusion.
