The company’s chairman said on Wednesday that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have some concerns about Life Insurance Corp’s (LIC) IPO, but global pension funds have “good interest” in the Indian state-run insurance company’s issue.
MR Kumar’s remarks come a day after LIC filed its initial public offering (IPO) papers, which showed that India will meet just a third of its original target, $2.74 billion, by selling a 3.5% stake in LIC’s IPO. hopes to collect.
Kumar said in an interview, “FIIs are worried, (no doubt they are worried) but long-term funds (pension funds) don’t matter to them because they know they are going to invest for the long term. are putting up.”
He did not give details of concerns raised by FIIs during presentations to over 180 investors, following which the government lowered its expectations for the issue and reduced LIC’s valuation to Rs 6 trillion from Rs 17 trillion, which means Rs. He had initially guessed.
Sources told Reuters investors were worried about LIC’s growth prospects as it already dominates nearly a third of the Indian insurance market and is losing market share to private players such as HDFC Life and ICICI Prudential Life .
LIC, the country’s largest domestic institutional investor, has also salvaged minority stake sale of some state-run firms when they were undersubscribed.
Kumar hopes that he will now invest in LIC.
“They are all ready to pitch in and no one can ask them why are you saving LIC… because they are not saving, they are investing.”
Earlier in the day, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, said the LIC IPO was being brought to market in May due to strong demand and a “solid” anchor investor base.
LIC’s IPO for anchor investors is scheduled to open on May 2.
The issue will open for subscription on May 4 and close on May 9.
Pandey had also said that the size of the LIC IPO is “optimal” in the current market conditions, defending his move to reduce the stake sale plan below 5%.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.