LIC IPO oversubscribed by nearly 3 times

New Delhi: The initial public offering (IPO) by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was oversubscribed by nearly 3 times, with the allotment announcement likely on May 12, reports NDTV.

All categories of the public offer were oversubscribed. The portion set aside for policyholders was booked 6.11 times, employees by 4.39 times, retail investors by 1.99 times, non-institutional investors by 2.91 times and qualified institutional buyers by 2.83 times.

As of Monday, the IPO was booked 2.95 times as investors bid for 477.6 billion shares compared with 162 billion shares on offer, exchange data showed.

The state insurer's mega IPO was open for subscription on Saturday and Sunday as well, with the allotment likely on May 12.

The LIC subscription in the price band of Rupee 902-949 is offering a discount to employees and retail investors of Rupee 45 per share. LIC policyholders will be offered a discount of Rupee 60 per share.

For an IPO, the Rupee 210 billion valuation would be the highest ever in the Indian market. Before this, the highest fundraise was seen in Paytm IPO last year at Rupee 183 billion and Coal India in 2010 at Rupee 152 billion.

The country's largest insurer reduced its IPO size to 3.5 per cent from 5 per cent decided earlier due to the prevailing market condition.

LIC has been informing about the IPO for several months through various channels, including print and TV advertisements. It has also approached its policyholders through SMS and other mediums to inform them about the share sale.

Demand for the IPO continued amid the interest rate hike by Reserve Bank of India and U.S. Federal Reserve.

The insurer had garnered around Rupee 56.27 billion from anchor investors ahead of the IPO.

LIC was formed by merging and nationalising 245 private life insurance companies on September 1, 1956, with an initial capital of Rupee 50 million.