Centre to wrap LIC IPO this fiscal
Watching geo-political situation carefully, keen on listing in March; LIC will hold IDBI shake for bancassurance gain: LIC chairman
image for illustrative purpose
On February 13, the insurer filed DRHP with Sebi to offload a total of 316 mn equity shares to investors through IPO of the 6.32 bn outstanding shares
New Delhi: Initial Public Offering-bound Life Insurance Corporation of India's Chairman M.R. Kumar on Monday said the insurer is 'well-capitalised' and presently is in no need of any capital infusion.
Addressing a press conference, he said that if the need for growth capital arises, then the LIC may approach the Centre as well as the new shareholders post the IPO.
Besides, he reassured prospective investors not to worry about the Centre's control post the listing as the company's decisions are taken by its Board and not by the Centre. However, the Centre will have a 95 per cent stake even after the IPO.
On being asked whether evolving geo-political tensions between Russia and Ukraine and the subsequent sell-off by foreign investors in the equity segment will have an impact on the insurer's IPO, he said: "Amid volatility in stock markets generated by tension between Russia and the US over Ukraine, we're watching the geo-political situation carefully, though keen on listing of the IPO in March."
The Centre wishes to conclude the much-awaited IPO by the end of FY22.
On February 13, the insurer filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with capital markets regulator SEBI and it intends to sell the Centre's five per cent equity stake in the company via its upcoming IPO, the DRHP document showed.
The Centre aims to offload a total of 316 million equity shares to investors through the public offering of the 6.32 billion outstanding shares, the document showed.
The current fiscal FY22's divestment target was revised to Rs 78,000 crore from the Budget estimates of Rs 1.75 lakh crore and the Centre would like to cash in the LIC IPO to meet its revised divestment estimate.
He further said that LIC would like to retain some stake in IDBI Bank so that the insurer continues to reap the benefits of the bancassurance channel. On Dec 19, 2020, IDBI Bank was reclassified as an associate company due to the reduction of LIC shareholding to 49.24 per cent post issuance of QIP. LIC has distribution tie up with 58,000 branches of different banks. There is still a lot of scope and headroom for growth on that front which are a win-win-win for both, said LIC chairman.
