JOIN USUp to 60 anchor investors chosen for LIC IPO: Report
The government has selected 50-60 anchor investors for the initial public offering (IPO) of insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), with firms like BlackRock, Standard Life and JP Morgan featuring on the list, a source told Business Standard.
Anchor investors are institutional investors who are allotted shares of a company before it goes public. This is done to showcase the demand for the shares of the company soon going for an IPO. A good list of anchor investors acts as an attraction for others to put their money in the company.
Anchor investors helped LIC’s price discovery, thereby valuing the company at close to Rs 7 lakh crore, the source said. They added that the lower-than-expected valuation was due to the underwhelming market sentiment presently due to geopolitical tensions.
The government is considering seeking around Rs 50,000 crore ($6.6 billion) from the IPO, sources had told Bloomberg earlier this month.
The government is discussing selling as much as a 7 per cent stake in LIC through the listing, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. It aims to launch the share sale before current approvals for the offering expire on May 12, the people said.
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