Abrdn looks to bolster balance sheet with £262m Indian insurer sale
Asset manager Abrdn has shed a chunk of its stake in Indian insurer HDFC today as it looks to bolster its balance sheet after swinging to a loss in the first half of the year.
In a statement on the London Stock Exchange this morning, the firm said it had sold two per cent of its stake in the firm on the National Stock Exchange of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange for around £262m, with the cash set to be channelled into internal investment.
“The proceeds will further strengthen the Company’s capital resources supporting investment in the business and enabling the Company to continue to return capital in excess of business needs,” the firm said today.
The asset manager’s stake now sits at around 1.66 per cent, based on the paid-up, issued equity share capital.
It comes after Abrdn, which has around £508bn under management, reported pre-tax losses of £320m for the first half of the year and last week dropped out of the FTSE 100 index, following a torrid year in which its share price has slumped beyond 40 per cent.
The firm has been grappling with investor outflows since it was created via a merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017. The investor was robbed of its vowels after a rebrand in 2021.