INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Government is likely to file draft papers for LIC IPO with SEBI by next weekNew Delhi: Government is likely to file draft papers for the
of the issue would be reserved for anchor investors, a top official said on Wednesday.Secretary in the department of investment and public
asset management (DIPAM) Tuhin Kanta Pandey, said approval of the insurance regulator is awaited, post which the draft prospectus, detailing
the size of the share sale, will be filed.The issue, after approval of SEBI, is likely to hit the market in March, he said.LIC's listing
is crucial for the government to meet the lowered revenue estimates of Rs 78,000 crore for the current fiscal.The government has so far
raised about Rs 12,000 crore from privatisation of Air India and stake sale in other PSUs.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2022-23
it has to now get clearance from insurance regulator IRDAI."Within seven to 10 days, the DRHP (Draft Red Herring Prospectus) for LIC IPO
The size of the issue would be mentioned in the DRHP," he said.The government aims to come out with the IPO and subsequently list LIC on the
bourses by March, he said."A portion of the IPO would be reserved for anchor investors like we have done in case of IPOs of IRFC and
LLP India has worked out the embedded value of LIC, while Deloitte and SBI Caps have been appointed as pre-IPO transaction advisors
Under the embedded value method, insurance companies' present value of future profit is also included in their present net asset value
(NAV).The government has appointed 10 merchant bankers, including Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets India
Pvt Ltd and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt Ltd, to manage the mega IPO of the country's largest insurer.The
government is also mulling allowing foreign investors to pick up stake in LIC
As per Sebi rules, foreign portfolio investors (FPI) are permitted to buy shares in a public offer.FDI policy would have to be tweaked for
FII/FPI investment in this IPO, as LIC is a corporation and not an insurance company.The cabinet committee on economic affairs had in July
last year cleared the proposal for LIC's IPO.
