FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Reinsurer Munich Re said yesterday that its Ergo Versicherungsgruppe insurer signed a joint venture with India's Housing Development Finance Corporation to start an insurance joint venture.

Under the deal, Ergo will take a 26 percent stake in HDFC's wholly owned insurance arm, HDFC General Insurance Company, with the remainder being held by HDFC.

The new venture, dubbed HDFC Ergo General Insurance Limited, will be based in Mumbai.

Housing Development Finance Corporation is India's biggest mortgage company in terms of assets.

Reinsurance companies sell backup coverage to other insurers, spreading risk so the system can handle huge losses from major disasters.

• Munich Re has agreed to purchase MSP Underwriting to expand on the Lloyd's of London property and casualty insurance market.

"The purchase price is in the mid double-digit million euro range," Munich Re said in an e-mailed statement, adding that MSP owns both the Lloyd's managing agency Beaufort Underwriting Agency, which manages Lloyd's Syndicate 318, and Lloyd's service company Evergreen Underwriting Services, which writes commercial business.