India’s mega IPO, of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), got off to a good start, with the $732 million of shares reserved for so-called anchor investors oversubscribed at the upper end of the price range, a banking source said.
The government had said it expects to raise up to $2.74 billion, just a third of its original target, from selling a 3.5 per cent stake in LIC in the country’s biggest initial public offering (IPO).
Anchor investors are high-profile institutional investors that are allotted shares before the subscription opens for retail and other investors, and have to commit to holding their shares for a certain period after listing.
LIC’s offering is set to open for other investors on May 4 and will close on May 9.
The indicative price range has been set at ₹902-949 per share, with $732 million of shares set aside for anchor investors.
Norwegian wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC have subscribed to the anchor book, the source said.
Alongside other global funds, domestic mutual fund houses such as HDFC mutual fund, SBI, ICICI and Kotak have also come in as anchor investors, the source added.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Qatar investment authority had previously been in talks to be anchor investors, but it wasn’t immediately clear if they made bids.
Over 20 investors had expressed interest in subscribing to the anchor book, two other banking sources said.