IndiaFirst Life Insurance has drawn interest from Samsung Life Insurance, Prudential Plc, BNP Paribas, and Norwest Venture Partners as existing investor Warburg Pincus explores an exit from its 26% stake, four people familiar with the matter said. Warburg has appointed Barclays as adviser to run the sale process, these people said.
“The transaction is likely to be strategic in nature and the talks are at an early stage,” one of the people cited above said.
“Warburg may not sell their entire stake if they don’t get the desired valuation. The entire price discovery will be based on the 26% sale, and it will be only secondary. There will be no primary infusion as the company does not need capital now,” a second person said, adding that this will likely be a pre-listing round to set the valuation benchmark.
Earlier today, the Times of India reported that Warburg was planning to sell its stake in a transaction that could value IndiaFirst at more than ₹10,000 crore.
Set up in 2009, IndiaFirst offers a range of life insurance products, including term plans, savings and retirement solutions. Its initial shareholders were Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank, now part of Union Bank of India, and Legal & General Middle East Ltd.
In February 2019, Legal & General sold its stake to Carmel Point Investments India Pvt. Ltd, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus. Following the amalgamation of Andhra Bank into Union Bank of India in April 2020, Bank of Baroda now holds 65% in IndiaFirst, Union Bank owns 9%, and Warburg holds the remaining stake.
The insurer had earlier planned to go public in 2022 and had received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India the following year, but deferred the listing amid volatile market conditions. The initial public offering (IPO) remains under consideration, with preparations likely to begin sometime next year, the people cited above said.
“There is no thought of any other promoter existing/selling stake along with Warburg. Bank promoters would want to do an IPO and the latest round is like a pre-IPO,” a third person cited above said, adding that the listing could happen in six to 12 months once the company scales up further. All four people spoke on condition of anonymity.
Norwest, BNP, and IndiaFirst declined to comment while Barclays, Prudential Plc, and Warburg did not respond to Mint’s requests for a comment, while a spokesperson for Samsung Life Insurance could not be reached till press time.
The potential deal, involving foreign strategic and financial investors, adds to heightened deal activity in India’s financial services sector. Recent transactions include MUFG’s $4.4 billion investment in Shriram Finance, Mizuho’s majority acquisition of Avendus earlier this month, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp’s stake purchase in Yes Bank in May.
Other deals include Emirates NBD’s acquisition of a majority stake in RBL Bank, Blackstone’s $705 million purchase of a 9.9% stake in Federal Bank, and Abu Dhabi-based IHC’s $1 billion acquisition of a 43.46% stake in Samman Capital through its affiliate Avenir Investment RSC Ltd.
Mumbai-based IndiaFirst has a paid-up share capital of ₹754.37 crore and serves more than 16 million customers across over 90% of India’s pin codes. The insurer employs about 4,600 people and operates through roughly 22,000 partner branches and around 115 third-party distributors and corporate agents, according to its website.
Over the past few years, IndiaFirst has received growth capital from its promoters in proportion to their shareholdings, with the most recent infusion of ₹500 crore in FY23, Icra Ltd said. The rating agency added that Bank of Baroda is expected to remain the majority shareholder even after the planned listing in the medium term. As of March 2025, the insurer’s assets under management stood at ₹30,968 crore.
In FY25, its gross direct premium grew marginally to ₹7,218 crore from ₹6,974 crore a year earlier, while profit declined to ₹102 crore from ₹112 crore in FY24. The credit rating agency added that growth was largely impacted by recalibration efforts, which include structural changes in the products in order to ensure standardization of commission across its intermediaries.
