India’s Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company (Niva Bupa) is looking to offload its minority stake, Bloomberg reported citing unnamed sources.

The health insurer is a joint venture between British United Provident Association (Bupa) and True North, an Indian private equity fund.

Niva Bupa has hired an adviser for the sale, which could fetch as much as $100m at a $2bn valuation, the sources said, adding that True North could weigh divesting part of its holding. 

According to one of the sources, the transaction could also see the insurer issuing new shares.

These considerations are reportedly at a preliminary phase, and specifics of the deal including size and structure could still change.

The insurer could also decide against the stake sale, the sources said. 

Niva Bupa, which was earlier known as Max Bupa Health Insurance Company, was established as a JV between Bupa and Max India.

In 2019, Max India divested its stake in the JV to True North and two years later the insurer was renamed as Niva Bupa. 

As per the UK insurer’s annual report, Bupa increased its stake in the Indian JV to 44.75%. 

Indian private sector lender Axis Bank acquired a 9.9% stake in Niva Bupa in 2021 from True North.

Earlier this week, the publication, citing sources, said that Kotak Mahindra Bank is considering stake sale in its general insurance business.