NEW DELHI: The much availed initial public issue (IPO) of state owned insurance and investment major the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of the current financial year. 

This was informed by Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey who was speaking at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Pandey said financial bids for BPCL, BEML, SCI, CEL, Pawan Hans and NINL can be called by December-January. He further said that the government aims to privatise 5-6 state-owned companies in FY22.

Several media reports have suggested that the State life insurer’s IPO is expected to raise between Rs 40,000 crore and Rs 1,00,000 crore and the government was looking to divest between a 5% to 10% stake in the company through the IPO. 

The government may allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the State insurer to enable a diversified and stronger demand across varied segments of investors. 

Several banks are expected to reach out to potential anchor investors for the IPO of LIC, next week, says a report of the Business Standard. This would be after the embedded value of the company is finalised. 

The government has selected Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase & Co, ICICI Securities, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Citigroup, SBI Capital Market, Axis Capital, Bank of America Securities and Nomura, among others, for the stake sale.