Mega LIC IPO ends today: 10 things to know on day 6 of bidding
After nearly a week of bidding, the subscription period for the $2.7 billion public offering of Life Insurance Corporation of India is set to end on Monday. Dubbed by some as India’s “Aramco moment”, the government had cut the fundraising of the IPO by about 60 per cent amid the Ukraine war that had triggered uncertainty in the global market. The issue opened for subscription on May 4. Reports said the Qualified Institutional Buyer portion was fully subscribed by 11 am on day 6. In 2019, Saudi Arabia’s giant state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, had raised over 25.6 billion in the world’s biggest IPO ever, surpassing Chinese firm Alibaba’s 2014 record.Here are ten things to know about the LIC IPO on the last day of the bidding:1. On the penultimate day of the offer, the IPO was subscribed 1.79 times. 29,08,27,860 bids were received against 16,20,78,067 shares on offer, news agency PTI reported, citing data.2. A total of 3,67,73,040 bids were received for 2,96,48,427 shares reserved for the non-institutional investors (NIIs) category.3. A day before, the shares reserved for non-institutional investors, including high networth individuals, were reported to have been subscribed fully.4. In the Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB) category, the IPO saw a poor response as just 0.67 per cent of the shares received bids on the 4th day, Saturday, PTI reported.
5. As the country witnesses the biggest IPO, the price band has been set at ₹902-949 per equity share. By diluting about 3.5 per cent stake of the insurance giant, the government is eyeing to raise about 21,000 crore.6. Some of the biggest IPOs the country has seen so far have been Paytm’s in 2021 at ₹18,300 crore, followed by Coal India (2010) at nearly ₹15,500 crore and Reliance Power (2008) at ₹11,700 crore.7. LIC was formed by merging and nationalising 245 private life insurance companies on September 1, 1956, with an initial capital of ₹5 crore. Its product portfolio comprises 32 individual plans (16 participating and 16 non-participating) and seven individual optional rider benefits, according to a PTI report.8. “The Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance Corporation Act on the 19th of June 1956, and the Life Insurance Corporation of India was created on 1st September, 1956, with the objective of spreading life insurance much more widely and in particular to the rural areas with a view to reach all insurable persons in the country, providing them adequate financial cover at a reasonable cost,” says the official website. 9. The opposition had attacked the government ahead of the mega IPO Launch. Alleging that “confidence and trust of 30 crore policy holders has been valued at throwaway prices”, the Congress had asked: “Why was the LIC valuation of ₹12-14 lakh crore in February 2022 reduced to ₹6 lakh crore in just two months?”10. The IPO was listed for anchor investors last Monday, two days before the public launch.(With inputs from PTI, Bloomberg)
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