Mumbai, July 6 -- ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd on Monday approved the reclassification of British insurer Prudential Plc from a promoter to an investor, as the latter prepares to form a new insurance venture with the Sunil Mittal-led Bharti group, in which it will hold a majority stake.

The life insurer's board approved seeking approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India to reclassify Prudential Corp. Holdings Ltd. It also approved seeking the regulator's nod to rename the company to ICICI Life Insurance Ltd.

The approval comes a day after joint promoter Prudential sent a letter to the insurer to initiate the process for reclassification as an investor of the company. "The Board has considered an...