Standard Life Aberdeen India JV makes strong market debut

Shares in Standard Life Aberdeen's Indian joint venture made a strong debut when it floated on the country's national stock exchanges today.

Standard Life Aberdeen chairman Sir Gerry Grimstone. Picture: Graham Flack

Standard Life Aberdeen and Housing Development Finance Corp, the two main shareholders in HDFC Life, sold part of their stakes in the initial public offering (IPO) which was heavily oversubscribed.

Shared closed up almost 19 per cent on the initial listing price.

Sir Gerry Grimstone, chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen, described the listing as “an historic moment in HDFC Life’s short 17 year history.

“It is the culmination of a great partnership between HDFC and Standard Life Aberdeen and the first day’s share performance demonstrates the strength of this leading business,” he said.

“On a personal note, I am honoured to be a director of the company, and I, together with the whole of the HDFC Life board, am committed to continuing to deliver a successful future for our customers, people and shareholders.”

Through the IPO, Standard Life Aberdeen sold £370m worth of shares. It still holds a stake of 29.3 per cent, valued at around £2bn.

HDFC Life is the third-largest private sector life insurance company in India with a 16.5 per cent share of total private sector premiums.