State-run General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) on Wednesday announced the launch of its Initial Public Offering of ₹11,372 crore (at the upper band), making it the third-largest IPO to hit the markets after Coal India and Reliance Power.
The public issue comprises a fresh issue of 1.72 crore equity shares and an offer-for-sale of up to 10.75 crore equity shares by the Union Government with a face value of ₹5 a share.
The company has set a price band of ₹855-912, with a minimum bid lot of 16 equity shares for the issue, which will be open from October 11 to 13. GIC is also offering a discount of ₹45 to retail individual bidders and eligible employees.
Alice Vaidyan, Chairman, GIC Re, said: “The total life premium market in India is ₹4.18 lakh crore, while the non-life premium is ₹1.27 lakh crore. The total insurance market is worth ₹5.45 lakh crore and we specialise in providing insurance to insurance companies.”
“We have grown at 82 per cent in FY17 thanks to the new Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Forty per cent of that growth has come from new crop insurance scheme while the international business and other segments have contributed the rest. We expect the agriculture segment to grow at 15-20 per cent going forward,” Vaidyan added.
The corporation also aims to expand into the international insurance segment by building relationships in new markets such as SAARC, China, South East Asia, Latin America and Africa.