Religare – Swiss Re: An early divorce
Swiss Re, one of the world’s leading reinsurers, and India’s emerging financial powerhouse Religare cut their health insurance joint venture plans barely three months after its announcement. The exact reasons for this has not been announced, but business standard reported on 5th Sept that a senior Religare executive felt that Swiss Re was not “aggressive enough”.
According to a senior executive at Religare, Swiss Re was reassessing its plans to enter the space and was not very aggressive. The deadline for the renewal of the term sheet had lapsed on August 20.
However in the a press release a few hours back, both the partners have maintained their intentions to create a joint venture health insurance company, though Religare again emphasized that they were looking to enter the Indian health insurance market “aggressively”. From Telegraph story:
“Religare wishes to go ahead aggressively in health insurance, keeping its broader goals in mind. Committed to offer its services in health insurance, the company is open to considering new potential partners,” said the company spokesperson. “Swiss Re remains committed to offering its actuarial and underwriting expertise in the important Indian market, and continues to be open to exploring a health insurance joint venture,” said a Swiss Re official.