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Fairfax eyes stake in Catholic Syrian Bank; Bajaj may buy Allianz’s stake in insurance JVs

Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd is looking to acquire a stake of more than 10% in Kerala-based Catholic Syrian Bank, according to a report.

The lender is talking to many investors including Fairfax to raise capital, The Economic Times reported citing bank chairman S Santhanakrishnan. The report also cited people familiar with the development as saying that a proposal in this regard has been submitted to the Reserve Bank of India for approval.

Catholic Syrian Bank had applied to the capital markets regulator SEBI last year for an IPO but shelved the plan due to market volatility. 

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Fairfax's latest bet is seen as part of its plan to establish a conglomerate in India with interests in fields ranging from banking, insurance, broking, infrastructure and chemicals, the report said.

Bajaj may buy Allianz’s stake in insurance business

Bajaj Finserv Ltd is in talks with the joint venture partner Allianz to buy its 26% stake in each of the two insurance arms – Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance – at an estimated deal value of Rs 10,000 crore, the Mint reportedciting people familiar with the development it didn't name.

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The report also cited Sanjeev Bajaj, managing director at Bajaj Finserv, as saying that the two partners are in talks but there is no decision yet on whether the Indian company will buy out the German partner or a third party will purchase the stake. 

Germany's Allianz was previously looking to increase its stake to 49% in both the ventures based but the talks failed, the report said.

Former Actis executive floats $15 mn WaterBridge Ventures fund

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Manish Kheterpal, a private equity veteran who has previously worked with Actis and Providence Equity Partners, has floated an early-stage fund called WaterBridge Ventures with a target corpus of $15 million, The Economic Times reported.

The fund has made a first close of $5 million, the report said citing Kheterpal. The fund is eyeing startups utilising technology, consumer-focused mobile apps in media and telecom, health-tech, fin-tech and ed-tech, among others for pre-series A to Series A investments, it said.

SEBI mulls mutual fund sales via e-commerce platforms

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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is looking at allowing mutual fund sales through e-commerce platforms, the Mint reportedciting people familiar with the development.

The move comes after a panel led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani had recommended the same in a report submitted on 30 May. The recommendations have been forwarded to Association of Mutual Funds in India for feedback, the Mint said.

Nandan Nilekani invests in KKR’s realty arm

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Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has invested $25 million through his family office Entrust in KKR India Asset Finance, The Times of India reportedciting people familiar with the matter.

KKR India Asset Finance is the private equity firm’s non-banking finance company catering to the real estate sector. The NBFC has an equity base of $250 million and other investors include Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Townsend group, the report said.

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