Niva Bupa Health Ins

By Vibhuti Sharma

MUMBAI, June 4 (Reuters) - India's red-hot initial public offering market may look irresistible as foreign firms line up for listings, but the rush is not about raising funds to expand in a fast-growing market; it's about sending billions of dollars back to headquarters.

Just one of six foreign-based companies that listed their Indian units in Mumbai since 2024 raised new funds, with all others structured purely as secondary offerings - or offer for sale (OFS), where existing shareholders sell their holdings to the public without raising any new funds, according to data from Prime Database, an Indian market research firm.

Foreign-based parents of companies that have long invested in India pocketed nearly $5 billion through such secondary-offering IPOs, with Hyundai Motor 005380.KS and LG Electronics 066570.KS accounting for more than 80% of those payouts, the data showed. Simply put, for each dollar raised in these IPOs taken together, more than $59 went out.

And the trend is continuing: the planned $1 billion IPO of Walmart's WMT.O Indian payments arm and Modern Times Group's MTGb.ST $335 million IPO of its local gaming unit will both take the OFS route.

This week, Coca-Cola KO.N said the planned listing of its Indian bottler will have the American firm sell a portion of its stake. Banking sources said Carlsberg's CARLb.CO planned Indian IPO will also have no new funds raised - it will also be an OFS.

The trend, which bankers and economists say is a result of sky-high stock valuations in India in recent years, shows that the prospect of a lucrative partial exit from Indian investments has become more attractive to many foreign companies than raising new funds to expand.

Global companies are pursuing "India listings as this provides them liquidity as well as a positive impact on the market cap for their parent," said Prashant Gupta, a partner at law firm Shardul Amarchand, which advised both Hyundai and LG on their OFS-structured IPOs.

Modern Times declined to comment, while Carlsberg said it is "exploring different options for increasing shareholder value which may potentially include an" Indian IPO.

Walmart's Indian unit, PhonePe, Hyundai, LG and other companies did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

RUPEE WOES

The OFS trend comes at a troubling time for the Indian rupee, which has fallen 13% against the U.S. dollar since 2024 and 6% so far this year. That has raised concerns that the IPO-linked repatriations are compounding already heavy foreign capital outflows.

In January, MUFG Bank wrote that its analysis "shows one important contributor to Indian rupee weakness has been the strong IPO market in India."

So far this year, foreign portfolio investors have sold more than $23 billion of their holdings, surpassing 2025's record outflows of $18.9 billion.

IPO-linked capital outflows are "exerting a steady, though not abrupt, depreciation bias on the rupee," said Tanay Dalal, a senior vice president of business and economics research at Axis Bank.

Government officials and regulators have not indicated that they would try to curb the OFS trend, though India's Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran warned in November that IPOs had "increasingly become exit vehicles for early investors rather than mechanisms for raising long-term capital."

"This undermines the spirit of public markets," he said. He did not respond to Reuters queries.

THE VALUATIONS GAME

India was the world's second-largest IPO market in 2025 after the U.S., with 367 listings raising $21.8 billion, according to LSEG data. Its markets surged to record highs over the last two years before starting to struggle this year due to uncertainties related to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Still, a record $26 billion worth of IPOs are awaiting approvals, according to regulatory data.

The appeal for using the OFS route is rooted in valuations.

Indian-listed units of foreign firms have consistently traded at multiples that dwarf their parents. Add to that a growing group of domestic investors that has resulted in high valuations in India over the past two years, making local listings attractive, lawyers and bankers said.

At least six foreign companies that listed their Indian units in recent years trade at a significant premium to their overseas parents, according to LSEG data.

Nestle India, which listed in 1969, has a price-to-earnings ratio - a measure of stock valuations relative to profit - of nearly 77 times, versus 22 times for Swiss parent Nestle NESN.S. LG Electronics India LGEL.NS, which listed last year, trades at nearly 59 times versus 44 times for its South Korean parent, LG Electronics 066570.KS.

On the day Hyundai 005380.KS listed its Indian unit in 2024, it was valued at about $18 billion, roughly 40% of its parent's market capitalisation.

"What's driving this is smart capital allocation - asset owners capitalizing on cross-market valuation arbitrage," said Abhishek Gang, a director at U.S.-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey.

Since 2024, the IPOs of the Indian units of Italian transmission systems maker Carraro CARD.NS, Norwegian consumer goods group Orkla ORKL.NS, and American auto parts maker Tenneco Clean Air TENN.NS all had OFS structures.

Only one - Britain-based Bupa's India unit, Niva Bupa Health Insurance NIVA.NS - structured its local IPO as a mix of fresh fundraising of $84 million and a larger $146 million OFS component.

"The final structure balanced the company's capital requirements with shareholder objectives, with the fresh capital supporting growth plans and the OFS providing partial liquidity to existing investors," Niva Bupa said in a statement to Reuters.

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Mumbai; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Thomas Derpinghaus)

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** Niva Bupa NIVA.NS rises 5.4% to touch an over eight-month high of 85.82 rupees

** Stock on course for best day in over 10 months, if gains hold

** The insurer posted a near 90% jump in consolidated profit after tax of 1.58 billion rupees ($16.60 million) for the fourth quarter

** Profit boosted by driven by strong growth in health insurance premiums and improved underwriting performance

** Gross written premium rose about 40% to 312.3 billion rupees in Q4, supported by continued momentum in its retail health segment - the company's largest business

** Motilal Oswal and Jefferies both see underwriting profitability improving further, with the combined insurance service ratio forecast to decline

** Both brokerages expect these gains to lift return on equity into the mid‑teens over the next three years

** Out of nine analysts tracking the stock, eight rate "Buy" or higher, while one rates "Hold" - data compiled by LSEG

** NIVA up 13.5% YTD

($1 = 95.1550 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru)

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Feb 27 (Reuters) - Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd NIVA.NS:

• IRDAI ISSUES SHOW CAUSE NOTICE TO COMPANY

• IRDAI CONDUCTED INSPECTION OF COMPANY DURING FEBRUARY

• NO IMPACT ON COMPANY'S FINANCIAL OR OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Source text: ID:nNSEbjcHjw

Further company coverage: NIVA.NS

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** Niva Bupa NIVA.NS rises 1.67% to 74.85 rupees

** Health insurer's gross direct premium underwritten jumps 47% y/y, outperforming industry avg in November, per data from General Insurance Council

** More than 1.8 mln shares traded, almost in line with 30-day avg

** Stock rated "buy" on avg; median PT is 85 rupees, per data compiled by LSEG

** NIVA falls 12.64% this year as of last close

(Reporting by Abhirami G in Bengaluru)

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Nov 13 (Reuters) - Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company NIVA.NS:

• IRDAI APPROVES ACQUISITION OF SHARES BY ENTITIES OF DSP ASSET MANAGERS

Source text: ID:nNSEWqlcd

Further company coverage: NIVA.NS

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** Shares of Indian insurance firms surge after government exempts individual life and health insurance policies from taxes, including for reinsurance

** Niva Bupa NIVA.NS gains the most at 4.5%

** PB Fintech PBFI.NS and Star Health STAU.NS each rise 3%

** CLSA says to protect their profitability and manage this change, insurers will implement price hikes

** Health insurers can absorb change with a modest 3%–4% premium hike, benefiting customers who no longer need to pay the 18% GST, CLSA says

** Adds, life insurers also may need about 1% to 3% price hikes; SBI Life SBIL.NS with the lowest operating expense ratio will need the lowest hike to manage change

** Private life insurers are better placed as exemption is expected to boost term insurance and market-linked products, ICICI Securities says

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar)

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** HSBC says standalone health insurers are likely to be more significantly impacted in the near term by proposed tax cuts due to their exposure to retail health, while multi-line insurers are expected to see minimal effects

** Star Health STAU.NS is most exposed to retail health, followed by Niva Bupa NIVA.NS and Care CARE.BO. Distributor PB Fintech PBFI.NS could benefit in medium- to long-term span

** Insurance premiums could fall by 6%–15% depending on the GST rate cut, and a reduction at the higher end may spur demand and reverse 1.5 to 2 years of inflation-driven hikes, HSBC says

** Adds that even without input tax credits, health insurance premium could decline by 7%-15%

** Firms may see near-term impact on combined ratios by 3%-6% as back book repricing could take 12–18 months

** HSBC estimates a complete GST exemption could lead to a yearly $1.2 bilion-1.4 bilion loss in revenue on premiums for the government

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar)

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** Indian insurers climb between 1% and 3%

** Niva Bupa Health NIVA.NS leads gains with 3% rise, Star Health and Allied Insurance STAU.NS up 1.7%

** HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS advances 1%, SBI Life SBIL.NS and Go Digit General Insurance GODG.NS gain 1.5%

** A panel of state ministers proposes exempting GST on individual health, life insurance premiums

** Emkay Global says GST cuts would lower retail, health insurance prices for customers

** Notes insurers must pass benefits to customers, improving affordability and driving sector growth

** Says SBI Life in a relatively beneficial position on lower cost structure

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon and Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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July 31 (Reuters) - Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd NIVA.NS:

• NIVA BUPA HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY JUNE-QUARTER LOSS AFTER TAX 914.4 MILLION RUPEES

• NIVA BUPA HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY JUNE-QUARTER NET PREMIUM EARNED 12.20 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: NIVA.NS

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Adds details, background from paragraph 2 onwards

July 2 (Reuters) - India's Max Financial Services MAXI.NS said on Wednesday that its unit, Axis Max Life Insurance, received communication about unauthorized access to some customer data from an anonymous sender.

The company has initiated a security assessment and data log analysis, Max Financial said.

"A detailed investigation is also underway in consultation with information security experts to assess the root cause of the incident and take remedial action, as necessary" the company said in a statement.

Axis Max Life Insurance is a joint venture between private lender Axis Bank AXBK.NS and Max Financial.

Indian firms such as Angel One ANGO.NS, Niva Bupa Health Insurance NIVA.NS and Star Health STAU.NS and HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS have reported high-profile security breaches in the past 10 months.

The incidents prompted the country's insurance regulator to direct industry-wide audits of IT systems.

Cyber fraud cases in India jumped more than four times in fiscal 2024, causing losses of $20 million, Reuters reported earlier this year.

Internal government data as of April 2024 showed that individuals lost nearly $1.26 billion to cyber fraud at financial institutions since 2021.

(Reporting by Manvi Pant; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Tasim Zahid)

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June 5 (Reuters) - Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd NIVA.NS:

• FETTLE TONE LLP SOLD 9.47% STAKE VIA OPEN MARKET ON JUNE 2

Source text: ID:nBSE6mxRgj

Further company coverage: NIVA.NS

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** Shares of Niva Bupa Health Insurance Co Ltd NIVA.NS surge 10% to 89.22 rupees, eyes best day since early December

** Health insurer on Wednesday reported 31% growth in fourth-quarter profit, helped by a 25% rise in premium income

** Morgan Stanley calls NIVA's Q4 results "strong"

** Stock rose as much as 14.7% earlier in the day

** NIVA turns YTD positive, last up 5.8%

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Indian health insurer Niva Bupa NIVA.NS jump ~6% to 82 rupees

** Co's focus on retail customers (which forms 68% of its topline) with hospital network expansion, faster claim settlement process will help it grow "faster" than industry - Motilal Oswal

** Brokerage starts coverage with "buy", in-line with NIVA's average rating; its TP of 100 rupees is highest among the three analysts currently rating the stock - LSEG data

** Niva Bupa's insurance claim settlement track record "one of the best" in the industry, which, with digital efforts to improve customer service, will attract tech-savvy clients - brokerage

** Day's move trims stock's YTD losses to ~3%

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of Niva Bupa Health Insurance NIVA.NS rise as much as 3.4% to 77.10 rupees

** ICICI Securities starts with "buy" and 90 rupees PT, implying a 21% upside to stock's last close

** Says NIVA to benefit from India's under-penetrated health insurance market, noting retail market share gains from 4% in FY19 to 9.4% in 11MFY25, with ~40% gross written premiums CAGR

** Expects profit to improve from 0.8 bln rupees ($9.3 mln) in FY24 to 1.6-2.2 bln rupees in FY25-27

** Since listing in November last year, stock is down 2.4%

($1 = 85.6660 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru)

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** Niva Bupa Health Insurance NIVA.NS slides as much as 4.8% to 74 rupees, lowest in nearly a month

** Heath insurer says it is investigating if any customer data was leaked after an anonymous person claimed to have access to such data

** Adds, "As a matter of urgency, we continue to conduct investigation(s) of data leak and implement measures to mitigate the risk"

** Stock last down 3.6%; drops ~4% since debut on November 14, 2024

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

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Feb 21 (Reuters) - India's Niva Bupa Health Insurance Co NIVA.NS said on Friday it is investigating claims of customer data leaks after receiving an email from an anonymous source.

(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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Feb 13 (Reuters) - Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd NIVA.NS:

• NIVA BUPA HEALTH: GOT IRDAI NOD FOR ACQUISITION OF SHARES OF CO BY GROUP ENTITY OF INVESTOR

Source text: ID:nBSE6gptML

Further company coverage: NIVA.NS

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Dec 3 (Reuters) - Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd NIVA.NS:

• CLARIFIES ON REPORT "GST REDUCTION FOR HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIA"

• NOT RECEIVED ANY OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION ON CHANGE OF GST RATES

Source text: ID:nBSE3cjCgh

Further company coverage: NIVA.NS

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Nov 29 (Reuters) - Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd NIVA.NS:

• NIVA BUPA HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY LTD - UNKNOWN SOURCE CLAIMS TO HAVE ACCESS TO CUSTOMER DATA

• NIVA BUPA HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY - INITIATED INVESTIGATION IN THREAT, INFORMATION SECURITY

• NIVA BUPA HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY LTD - UNKNOWN SOURCE SHARED LIMITED DATA FIELDS OF 2 CUSTOMERS WITH CO

Further company coverage: NIVA.NS

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** Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company NIVA.NS rises as much as 9.5% to 81 rupees on trading debut

** Stock opens at 78.14 rupees, a 5.6% premium to its IPO price of 74 rupees

** IPO, oversubscribed 1.8x, included fresh issue worth up to 8 bln rupees (~$95 mln), which will be used to fund co's working capital needs

** Stock's debut "slightly better than expected" after bid data "reflected a cautious investor sentiment", says Shivani Nyati, Head of Wealth at Swastika Investmart

** NIVA last up 2%

($1 = 84.4000 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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