To meet SEBI norms, Prudential Corp Holdings to sell 15% more shares of ICICI Pru AMC

Nimesh Shah, Managing Director, ICICI Pru AMC and Sandeep Batra, Chairman, at the company’s IPO press conference in Mumbai.

Currently, Prudential Corporation Holdings plans to sell up to 4.90 crore (9.9 percent) shares through an offer for sale. The offer includes a reservation of up to 24.49 lakh equity shares for subscription by eligible shareholders of ICICI Bank.

Share purchase agreement

In addition, ICICI Bank has entered into a share purchase agreement with Prudential Corporation Holdings to acquire an additional 2 percent stake in ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company for ₹2,140 crore.

ICICI Pru AMC is a joint venture between ICICI Bank, which holds 51 percent, and UK Prudential Corporation Holdings, which holds 49 percent.

Nimesh Shah, managing director of ICICI Pru AMC, said the fund’s parent ICICI Bank does not want to dilute its stake in the IPO and wants to keep the AMC business as a subsidiary.

So it is clear that Prudential Corporation must dilute its stake to meet minimum public ownership standards, he added.

The MF business has been growing steadily and the AMC has filed an application with SEBI for the acquisition of ICICI Venture from ICICI Bank.

“We are present in MF, alternatives, PE and SIF, but venture capital has been a missing piece. With the entry into venture capital, we will be able to invest in pre-IPO companies,” he said.

The emergence of new mutual funds has slowed stock market share growth to 13.6 percent from 13.3 percent last year, he added.

“While a greater number of MFs is good for the industry, it is up to the regulator to decide how many entities it wants to regulate,” Shah said.

Direct investments are growing

FDI in ICICI Pru schemes has grown from 21 per cent to 27 per cent in FY23 in September last year, with the emergence of new ‘direct-only’ platforms, he added.

“In the asset management industry, you shouldn’t worry about margin, you should worry about volume,” he said. Lower fees, he added, strengthen the proposition rather than weaken it. “If I charge less, I am more likely to meet the benchmark. So business is more sustainable,” he said when asked about SEBI’s decision to reduce commission for distributors.

Published on December 8, 2025