Govt shortlists four law firms to assist LIC IPO after failed first attempt

Crawford Bayley, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Link Legal and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas will make a representation before govt on Friday

The government has now shortlisted four law firms to assist the government in the initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) after the first attempt failed to get adequate response from intermediaries.

Crawford Bayley, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Link Legal and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co have been shortlisted to act as legal adviser for the LIC IPO, and will make a representation before the government on Friday.

The financial bids will be opened by a high level committee after presentations are made by these law firms, and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) would intimate the qualified bidder.

Earlier, the government had not received adequate response from law firms, and had floated a fresh request for proposal with some relaxations. It introduced “milestone payments” where the selected legal adviser would receive 50 per cent of the fee after the filing of the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) and the remaining after listing of LIC shares. Earlier, legal advisors were supposed to get their fee “after successful and satisfactory completion of the transaction”.

The government had also clarified that the legal adviser would assist LIC and the government for three years from the time of placing the bid.

The government is targeting to launch the IPO of LIC in the last quarter of the financial year. The listing of insurer’s shares on exchanges would involve part-sale of the government’s stake and raising fresh equity share capital. A part of the public offering may be reserved for employees and policyholders of LIC.