LIC likely to unveil IPO pricing today: Band may be Rs 902-949

LIC IPO is set to open on May 4 and will close on May 9. The anchor book is slated to open on May 2 but the issue will open for retail investors two days later, as May 3 is a holiday on account of Eid.

The government had in February planned to sell 5 per cent stake or 31.6 crore shares of the insurance behemoth (REUTERS, file)

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is expected to announce the offer price, policyholder and retail discounts of its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday. However, investment banking sources indicated that the IPO is likely to be priced in the range of Rs 902-949 per share. The discount for policyholders is expected to be Rs 60 and for retail investors and employees at Rs 45 per share.

LIC IPO is set to open on May 4 and will close on May 9. The anchor book is slated to open on May 2 but the issue will open for retail investors two days later, as May 3 is a holiday on account of Eid.

The government has cut the issue size to Rs 21,000 crore and the issue is now valued at 1.1 times its embedded value of Rs 5.4 lakh crore.

Story continues below this ad

The government will sell 22.13 crore shares or its 3.5 per cent stake in LIC through the share offering. Ahead of the mega public offer of LIC, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) increased the size of bids that retail investors can submit in an IPO using Unified Payment Interface (UPI). Sebi cleared the LIC IPO on March 9.

The government was earlier keen on launching the LIC initial public offering in March 2022 to meet its revised disinvestment target for the current fiscal.

The issue size was cut from the earlier proposed Rs 65,000 crore after Russia attacked Ukraine and and foreign investors started pulling out funds in the wake of rate hike plans of the US Federal Reserve market conditions turned negative, sending financial markets into a tizzy.

In March this year, market experts had urged the government to price the public issue at attractive valuations for it to sail through in the current market conditions. With better pricing and 10 million policy-holders opening demat accounts to get a further discount on the IPO price, the issue is expected to sail through, analysts said.

Story continues below this ad

LIC had filed its draft papers for IPO on February 13. The government has time till May 12 to launch the IPO without filing fresh papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. One the IPO is over, listing of LIC shares on the stock exchanges is expected to happen in April itself.

Tags:
Life Insurance Corporation

Bhavish Aggarwal (Photo via his Twitter page)

Ola CEO booked after employee dies by suicide, claims harassment by management

Cities47 min ago

A case has been filed against Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and others after an employee's suicide note accused the management of harassment. The police have registered a case and are investigating under Section 108 of BNS. The employee's brother filed a complaint, stating that a large sum of money was deposited into his account after his death, raising suspicions.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS