Bharti ends talks with RIL to sell insurance JVs stake

Bharti Enterprises and RelianceIndustries on Friday terminated talks for the stake sale in Bharti AXAinsurance companies due to differences over issues related to long-term visionand joint governance.

"AXA, Bharti, Reliance Industries (RIL) and itsassociate Reliance Industrial Infrastructure (RIIL) announced today that theyhave mutually agreed to terminate their negotiations on the proposedacquisition by RIL and RIIL of Bharti's shareholding of 74 per cent in BhartiAXA Life Insurance and Bharti AXA General Insurance," Bharti said in astatement.

In a separate statement, RIL said the talks were terminatedas parties had failed to "reach agreement on long-term vision and jointgovernance of the ventures."

After nearly five years of its association with France'sAXA, Bharti had in June announced it would exit from the financial services JVs and sell its entire 74 per cent stake in both general and life insurancebusinesses. Industry experts had valued the deal at around Rs 5,000 crore.

"Bharti AXA Life and Bharti AXA General Insurance willcontinue to develop their operations in India, as they have successfully doneover the past years, and build a sustainable and long-term business by tappingthe significant growth potential offered by the Indian market," it added.

The company had entered into these joint ventures with theAXA group in 2006 and held 74 per cent stake in both these ventures - BhartiAXA Life Insurance and Bharti AXA General Insurance .

The AXA group is a global player in insurance and assetmanagement, with 214,000 employees serving 95 million clients.