LIC IPO Subscribed 30% Within Hours Of Opening; Policyholders Portion Fully Booked

Life Insurance Corporations of India's (LIC) share sale via initial public offering was witnessing good response from investors as the IPO was subscribed 30 per cent by 12:20 pm, data from BSE showed. LIC shares were witnessing strong demand from its policyholders as portion reserved for them was oversubscribed within couple of hours of opening. Portion of shares reserved for its employees was subscribed 52 per cent.

Meanwhile, large investors like financial institutions, foreign institutional investors, banks and mutual funds, which fall under the category of qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) were yet to make bids for shares in the ongoing share sale. While shares reserved for non institutional investors was subscribed 6 per cent.

The insurance behemoth on Tuesday said it has garnered a little over Rs 5,627 crore from anchor investors led primarily by domestic institutions ahead of its mega initial public offering (IPO).

Anchor Investors' (AIs) portion (5,92,96,853 equity shares) was subscribed at Rs 949 per equity share, the insurer said in an early morning filing to exchanges.

Out of the allocation of about 5.9 crore shares to AIs, 4.2 crore shares (71.12 per cent) were allocated to 15 domestic mutual funds through 99 schemes, the filing said.

The much-awaited LIC's IPO opened for subscription today. The government of India is selling 3.5 per cent stake in the country's largest IPO to raise Rs 21,000 crore. The IPO has been priced in the band of Rs 902-949 per share.

The offer includes a reservation for eligible employees and policyholders. The retail investors and eligible employees will get a discount of Rs 45 per equity share, and policyholders will get a discount of Rs 60 per equity share.

So far, the amount mobilised from the IPO of Paytm in 2021 was the largest ever at Rs 18,300 crore, followed by Coal India (2010) at nearly Rs 15,500 crore and Reliance Power (2008) at Rs 11,700 crore. 

LIC was formed by merging and nationalising 245 private life insurance companies on September 1, 1956, with an initial capital of Rs 5 crore.

Its product portfolio comprises 32 individual products (16 participating products and 16 non-participating products) and seven individual optional rider benefits. The insurer's group product portfolio comprises 11 group products.