, Columnist
Billionaires Behaving Badly in India
Big shareholders are profiting at the expense of minorities, and it's getting worse.
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The IPO market is thriving, mid- and small-cap stocks are at record highs, corporate bond yields are sliding, and government officials are banging the tables for a sovereign-rating upgrade. All the ingredients are in place for large shareholders in Indian companies -- or "promoters" as they're known -- to display their most egregious behavior.
The most recent example involves a clever merger and spinoff through which India will soon get its second-largest insurer. Max Life Insurance, 26 percent-owned by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance,1474507737731 will first be subsumed into its parent Max Financial Services, which is backed by KKR and Goldman Sachs and is publicly traded.