Dabur Group Forms General Insurance JV With Liberty Mutual Group

Dabur Group Forms General Insurance JV With Liberty Mutual Group


New company to focus on offering insurance for cars, homes, personal accident, and small and medium size commercial enterprises



Mumbai, June 02, 2008: The Burman family -- promoters of the Dabur Group -- and Liberty Mutual Group announced today that they plan to form a non-life insurance company in India to provide personal and commercial insurance products through a range of distribution channels such as agents and banks. Liberty Mutual, through one of its fully owned subsidiaries, will initially hold a 26 percent stake in the new company, while Dabur Group firm, Dabur GI Invest Corp, will hold the remaining 74 percent.



“India’s rapidly expanding middle class illustrated by GDP per capita growth of more than 50 percent over the past 10 years means that ever more Indians will be buying insurance to protect their property and possessions,” said Edmund F. Kelly, Liberty Mutual Group’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Entering India’s insurance marketplace at this exciting time offers tremendous growth opportunity for our international operations while reinforcing our position among the leading global insurance companies.”



Liberty Mutual will begin the licensing application process for the new company before the end of the second quarter this year. Upon approval by Indian regulators, the new entity will operate under the name Dabur Liberty General Insurance Company. The company will provide multi-line insurance underwriting capabilities to various distribution channels, with an emphasis on personal insurance products such as car, home and personal accident protection.



“This venture marks the coming together of two reputed groups -- Dabur Group and Liberty Mutual. The Dabur Group has a deep understanding of the Indian market, based on domain knowledge acquired over several years. This, combined with Liberty Mutual's vast expertise in the insurance domain will help us become one of India’s leading non-life insurers in days to come," said Mr. V C Burman.



“With India’s booming economy, our objective is to quickly become a top-tier insurer there as we have done in other countries around the globe,” said Thomas C. Ramey, chairman and president of Liberty International. “India offers us a deep pool of talented insurance professionals as well as strong and efficient distribution partners. Our new operations will be an important piece of our continuing growth globally.”



Liberty Mutual Group’s International business, which has a meaningful presence in 24 countries, reported 2007 revenue of approximately $6.1 billion. Overall, the Liberty Mutual Group reported annual consolidated revenue of $25.9 billion for 2007.



About Dabur GI Invest Corp

Dabur GI Invest Corp is an Indian partnership comprised of members of the Burman family, promoters and majority shareholders of the over INR 23.9 billion Dabur India Limited. Dabur India is a publicly listed firm on the Indian stock exchange with a market capitalization of over $2 billion. The firm is engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of healthcare, personal care, food products and related businesses in India and other parts of the world.



About Liberty Mutual Group

Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group is a diversified global insurer and sixth largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2007 direct written premium. The Company also ranks 94th on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2007 revenue. As of December 31, 2007, Liberty Mutual Group had $94.7 billion in consolidated assets, $82.3 billion in consolidated liabilities, and $25.9 billion in annual consolidated revenue.

Liberty Mutual Group offers a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, workers compensation, commercial multiple peril, commercial automobile, general liability, global specialty, group disability, assumed reinsurance, fire and surety.

Liberty Mutual Group (www.libertymutualgroup.com) employs over 41,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.