India-based Jammu & Kashmir Bank is planning to offload entire or a fraction of its 5% stake in life insurance joint venture (JV) MetLife India.
J&K Bank CEO and chairman Mushtaq Ahmed was quoted by the Economics Times as saying that the bank has already divested partially from MetLife by reducing its equity from 11% to 5%.
"We still hold 102.2 million shares that we can divest anytime we have a better opportunity," Ahmed told the news daily.
Operating as a corporate agent of Metlife India, J&K Bank markets life insurance products through its branches network.
The bank accumulated nearly INR1.9bn ($30.6m) by selling 118.1 million shares to Punjab National Bank, when the latter purchased 30% stake in the life insurance JV.
The bank said that the sale proceeds will be put into the bank's reserves. It also has plans to open 250 additional branches in the country.
MetLife India Insurance Company operates as an affiliate of US-based life insurer MetLife, and was incorporated as a JV between MetLife, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, M Pallonji and Co Private and other private investors.