Standard Life Aberdeen raises £370m on flotation of Indian venture

Edinburgh-based pensions and investment giant Standard Life Aberdeen has raised around £370 million by reducing its stake in its Indian insurance joint venture.

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, the joint venture Standard Life Aberdeen runs with India’s Housing Development Finance Corporation, made a strong debut on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday with its shares gaining almost 19 per cent compared with the issue price.

The performance meant Standard Life Aberdeen could cash in with the sale of a tranche of 108,581,768 HDFC Life shares which were sold by Standard Life (Mauritius Holdings) through the initial public offering.

The Standard Life Aberdeen subsidiary now holds just under 30 per cent of the issued equity share capital of HDFC Life further to the sale, which, based on the listing price of HDFC Life, is valued at around £2 billion.

Sir Gerry Grimstone, chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen, said: “Today’s listing is an historic moment in HDFC Life’s short 17-year history. It is the culmination of a great partnership between HDFC and Standard Life Aberdeen and the first day’s share performance demonstrates the strength of this leading business.”