LG Electronics IPO draws Norway, Singapore wealth funds as anchor investors

(Reuters) -Appliance maker LG Electronics India has sold shares worth about 34.75 billion rupees ($391.88 million) to anchor investors including Blackrock and the wealth funds of Singapore and Norway as part of its $1.3 billion IPO.

Shares of the local arm of South Korea's LG Electronics were allotted at the upper end of the 1,080 rupees to 1,140 rupees price band, an exchange filing showed late on Monday.

The initial public offering comes during the second-busiest quarter on record for Indian listings, with firms set to raise up to $8 billion.

LG Electronics India had planned for a listing by May after filing for an IPO last December, but delayed the share sale citing market volatility.

Blackrock invested 971.6 million rupees, Singapore's wealth fund 1.71 billion rupees and Norway's wealth fund 1.05 billion rupees. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority was allotted shares worth 1.02 billion rupees.

Domestic mutual funds were allotted about 49% of the shares set aside for anchor investors, with SBI and HDFC funds among the biggest buyers.

Together, anchor investors will buy about 30% of the 101.8 million shares on offer at the IPO.

Anchor investors are large institutional investors, such as mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds, who are allotted shares before the subscription opens for retail and other investors.

These investors are subject to a mandatory lock-in period after listing, in which they cannot sell their shares.

LG Electronics India's three-day share sale opens for other investors on October 7.

The firm is India's second largest appliance maker and competes with Whirlpool and Samsung, in the domestic market.

Its parent firm is looking to make India its global manufacturing hub, for its competitive labor costs and strong domestic demand, an executive told Reuters last week.