Allianz Eyes JV With Jio Financial Services After Ending Alliance With Bajaj Group

After ending its 24-year joint venture with Bajaj Group, German insurer Allianz SE is eyeing a second innings in India’s general and life insurance market — this time in partnership with fintech company Jio Financial Services.

Citing sources, ET reported that negotiations between Allianz and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) have been ongoing for a few months. 

The discussions picked up pace after it was revealed last October that Allianz was considering ending its partnership with Bajaj Group.

For context, Reliance Strategic Investments Ltd was demerged from RIL and renamed to Jio Financial Services. Subsequently, Jio Financial Services listed on the stock exchanges in August 2023.

The report comes a day after Bajaj Finserv, the financial arm of Bajaj Group, announced it will buy 26% stake owned by Allianz in its Indian joint ventures Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance for INR 24,180 Cr.

With the acquisition, Bajaj Finserv will own a 75.01% stake each in the Allianz’s general insurance and life insurance joint ventures with Bajaj, it said in an exchange filing on Monday (March 17).

A formal announcement on the Allianz-Jio joint venture will be made once they get approval from regulatory authorities, including from the Competition Commission of India and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, as per the report.

However, the deal will only go through if Allianz steps down as promoter of its two existing ventures. 

Jio Financial Services has been pushing the German insurer to “fast-track its exit and strike a new deal” as the fintech company seeks to expand its presence in the financial services sector and is scouting global partners.

Jio Financial Services houses several entities such as Jio Finance, Jio Insurance Broking, Jio Payment Solutions, Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings. 

Jio Insurance Broking offers 54 plans in five categories like auto, two-wheeler, health and life (term and non-term). It also has embedded insurance products like solar panel insurance, cyber protection, credit life, property insurance and health insurance. 

In August last year, Jio Financial Services set up a wholly owned subsidiary Jio Finance Platform and Services in a push to distribute financial products and allied services. 

It also has other entities like Jio Leasing Services, Jio Payments Bank Limited and three entities in a joint venture (JV) with American investment major Blackrock.

Jio Financial Services offers a wide range of finance products under the JioFinance app, launched in beta mode last year, such as loan on mutual funds, home loans (including balance transfers), and loan against property.

Its consolidated net profit was flat at INR 294.8 Cr in the December quarter of the ongoing fiscal year (Q3 FY25) as against a profit of INR 293.8 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue grew by a moderate 5.7% to INR 438.6 Cr during the quarter from INR 414.3 Cr in Q3 FY24.