British insurer Prudential considers listing Indian asset management joint venture

(Reuters) -British insurer Prudential is considering listing its Indian joint venture ICICI Prudential Asset Management, it said on Wednesday.

Prudential's London-listed shares soared more than 8%, buoyed by plans that would involve the company divesting some of its 49% stake in the Indian asset manager and returning the proceeds to shareholders.

ICICI Prudential Asset Management offers a range of mutual fund products in India. ICICI Bank, India's second-largest private lender by assets, holds the other 51% stake in the joint venture.

"We intend to retain our majority shareholding in ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, ensuring our long-term commitment," ICICI Bank said in a stock market filing after Prudential's announcement.

Prudential did not disclose where it plans to list the company, but any potential listing would be subject to market conditions and approvals, it said.

"It is intended that following the completion of such a divestment, the net proceeds would be returned to shareholders," the British company added.

India's initial public offering (IPO) market had a record run in 2024 and the capital-raising spree is expected to continue this year given the pipeline of companies looking to go public, the CEO of BSE, the country's oldest exchange, told Reuters last month.

The IPO boom in India was driven by offers for sale (OFS), where large shareholders sell existing shares to reap the proceeds themselves rather than new issues that provide companies with capital to invest, BSE's Sundararaman Ramamurthy had said.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Nishit Navin in BengaluruEditing by Shinjini Ganguli and David Goodman)