LIC may file preliminary IPO prospectus today, price band on Wednesday

Life Insurance Corporation is likely to file a preliminary IPO prospectus on Tuesday, sources directly involved in the IPO process told Reuters.

The government is looking to sell a 3.5 per cent stake in the state-owned insurance behemoth and the IPO is likely to open in the first week of May.

The price band for the per equity share is likely to be announced on Wednesday, the sources said.

LIC management and the investment bankers will embark on road shows in six cities across India - including Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Kolkata - where they will be meeting potential investors and analysts starting on Wednesday, one of the sources said.

The road shows are likely to be concluded by the end of this week. In the last two years with the Covid-19 pandemic, physical road shows had come to a grinding halt but now with infections down the management has decided to re-start the process.

Apart from this, online road shows covering investors across other regions will also continue, the source added.

The finance ministry did not immediately respond to an email request seeking comment.

New Delhi has already halved its fundraising goal for LIC's IPO to Rs 300 billion ($3.9 billion), having had to cut its valuation estimates after feedback from investors, a government source told Reuters last week.