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LIC Press Conference Today On Mega IPO: What To Expect
27 Apr 2022, 10:39 AM IST 
LIC IPO: LIC presser to confirm IPO details; Launch date, timelines, price band, etc.
- The long-awaited IPO of the 66-year old insurance behemoth would open on May 2 for anchor investors and from May 4 to May 9 for the general public, government sources said on Tuesday.
- India's most significant public issue will be in the price band of ₹ 902-949, with a Rs 60 discount to policyholders and a Rs 45 discount for retail investors and employees, the sources had added.
- The employee reservation portion was not expected to exceed 5 per cent of the post-offer equity share capital, and the policyholder reservation portion was not to exceed 10 per cent of the offer size.
- On Saturday, the LIC board approved a cut in its IPO issue size to 3.5 per cent from 5 per cent, sources had said. The government is now expected to sell 3.5 per cent of its stake in LIC for ₹ 21,000 crore, valuing the insurance behemoth at 6 lakh crore.
- The sources said depending on the demand and subscription; there is an option for the government to increase the stake offer to 5 per cent, in which case the state's coffer will garner ₹ 30,000 crore from the sale of its equity.
- But the drastic lowering of ambitions for the IPO would be a setback for the government and challenge its fiscal balances as the disinvestment was positioned and aimed at replenishing the state's coffers.
- Whether the final offer is a stake sale of 3.5 per cent for ₹ 21,000 crore or 5 per cent for ₹ 30,000 crore, LIC's IPO will be India's largest ever.
- Indeed, the public issue size at the lowered Rs 21,000 crore will be larger than the amount mobilised from the IPO of Paytm in 2021 - which is currently the biggest 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.
- Previously, the government was expecting to garner over Rs 60,000 crore by selling about 31.6 crore or 5 per cent stake in the life insurance firm to meet the curtailed disinvestment target of Rs 78,000 crore in 2021-22.
- The stake sale was initially planned to be launched in March 2022, but the Russia-Ukraine crisis derailed those plans as stock markets were highly volatile. The government currently has time until May 12 to launch LIC's IPO without filing fresh papers.
