LIC likely to launch IPO worth $8 bn on Mar 11

NEW DELHI: IPO of India's state-run Life Insurance Corp (LIC) is expected to open on March 11 for anchor investors and a couple of days later for other investors. LIC's initial public offering (IPO) is expected to get regulatory approval by the first week of March, following which an indicative marketing price band will be set.

The IPO is set to be the country's biggest yet at $8 billion (Rs 65,400 crore), sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

LIC declined to comment. A finance ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to the news agency's 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 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.