India’s LIC to launch $8b IPO in March

A public offering of shares by India’s state-run Life Insurance Corp (LIC), set to be the country’s biggest yet at $8 billion, is expected to open for anchor investors on March 11, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The book will open for bidding by other investors a couple of days later, the sources said.

LIC’s initial public offering (IPO) is expected to obtain regulatory approval by the first week of March, after which an indicative marketing price band will be set, said the sources, declining to be named as the deal discussions are private.

LIC declined to comment. A finance ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request seeking comment.

The insurer’s IPO will be a test of the depth of capital markets in India, where equity deals worth more than a couple of billion dollars are rare. The biggest IPO so far was worth $2.5 billion by payments company Paytm (PAYT.NS) last year. LIC’s offering will also sound investor appetite for new equity deals, with a number of Indian companies that listed last year trading below offer prices on concerns over lofty valuations and looming interest rates hikes by central banks.

The sources said the IPO launch schedule could change, though for now the issuer was working to meet those timelines. LIC, the country’s largest insurance company, filed a draft IPO prospectus on Sunday with the market regulator to sell 5 per cent of the Indian government’s stake to potentially raise nearly $8 billion.