Over 20 investors have expressed interest in subscribing to the anchor book, two other banking sources said
Over 20 investors have expressed interest in subscribing to the anchor book, two other banking sources said
The IPO of India’s largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), got off to a good start, with $732 million of shares reserved for so-called anchor investors oversubscribed at the top end of the price range, a bank source said.
The Indian government has announced it will raise up to $2.74 billion, just a third of its original target, by selling a 3.5 percent stake in LIC in the country’s largest initial public offering (IPO).
Anchor investors are high-profile institutional investors who are allotted shares before retail and other investor subscriptions begin and are required to commit to holding their shares for a specified period of time after the listing.
LIC’s offering is scheduled to open to other investors on May 4th and close on May 9th. The indicative price range has been set at ₹902 to ₹949 per share, with ₹56 billion (US$732 million) of shares earmarked for anchor investors.
Norwegian wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC signed the anchor book, the source said.
Domestic mutual fund houses such as HDFC Investment Fund, SBI, ICICI and Kotak have also stepped in as anchor investors, among other global funds, the source added.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Qatar Investment Authority had previously held talks as anchor investors, but it wasn’t immediately clear if they would bid.
India’s Treasury Department did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Over 20 investors have expressed interest in subscribing to the anchor book, two other banking sources said.
Foreign institutional investors had some concerns about LIC’s IPO, but global pension funds had shown “good interest,” the LIC chairman said last week.
