Star Health & Allied Insurance, the country’s first standalone health insurer, may also become the first health insurer to list its shares. It is considering selling shares to the public, in part to provide some private equity investors a route to exit, said three people in know of the matter. “Since getting buyers for multiple holders’ stake is becoming tough, the company is exploring an initial public offering,” said one of the people.
Star Health chairman V Jagannathan, however, said the company has no plans to list. Sequoia Capital said, “We do not have any comments on this.” Others, including ICICI Ventures, Apis Partners, Tata Capital and Star Health, did not respond to email queries.
Star Health, founded in 2006, is a joint venture between ICICI Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Tata Capital Growth Fund, Oman Insurance Company and others. The insurer, with a capital base of Rs 1,050 crore, deals in personal accidents, mediclaim and overseas travel insurance.
Last year, Apis Partners and ICICI Ventures together acquired a 15 % stake in Star Health for Rs 320 crore, valuing the company at more than Rs 2,100 crore.
Indian shareholders owned 63.76 % of the insurer as of last September, with foreign investors holding the rest. The company is finding it difficult to meet capital requirements, as it is growing at over 40 % year-on-year. Its gross written premium income expanded 47.58 % on a year on-year basis to Rs 2,962 crore at the end of March 31, 2017. It has a market share of 2.33 % in the general insurance industry, more than the combined market share of the four other standalone health insurance companies.
