LIC IPO price band at Rs 902-949 per share; offer opens on May 4

New Delhi: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has set its price band for the Initial Public Offer (IPO) at Rs 902 to Rs 949 per equity share. The public offer starts on May 4 and will remain open for bidders till May 9, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday.

The size of LIC IPO is set to be the largest so far in the country. The government targets to raise Rs 20,557.23 crore by offloading 3.5 per cent of its equity stake or 22.13 crore shares of LIC. This is substantially lower than the earlier projection of about Rs 60,000 crore.

Addressing a press conference, Pandey said, “Even after the reduce size of Rs 21,000 crore, the LIC IPO will initially be the biggest ever IPO in the country.”

The government has decided to reduce the size of the IPO due to the volatility in the market.

“This is right-sized considering the capital market environment and will not crowd out capital and monetary supply, given the current environmental constraints,” he said.

The IPO will be a pure offer for sale. Out of the 22.13 crore shares offered for sale, around 5.93 crore shares have been reserved for anchor investor portion. Employee reservation portion is at 1.58 million while policyholder reservation at 22.14 million.

Half of the shares are reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIB), 15 per cent of the shares will be reserved for non-institutional investors while the rest is for retail investors.

Policyholders will get a discount of Rs 60 per equity share. Retail and employees will get a discount of Rs 40.