According to the news published in The Economic Times, the central government has approached sovereign wealth and pension funds to become anchor investors in the upcoming IPO of LIC. These sovereign wealth and pension funds include the Qatar Investment Authority, Singapore-based GIC, three Canadian pension funds and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
An official has said that since these funds have a record to stay in their investments for a long time, the government wants these institutional investors to invest in LIC’s IPO as anchor investors.
It is worth noting that these investors had also shown interest in LIC’s IPO. The said officer also informed that several leading sovereign funds have shown their interest in LIC’s IPO. The merchant banker is in a very advanced stage of talks to be their anchor investor in this IPO.
According to information received by The Economic Times quoting sources, during the roadshow for this IPO, which may come in May, the central government approached about 180 potential anchor investors. At the same time, at least 8-10 big ticket foreign investors will be required to anchor investing in this biggest IPO of India.
An official associated with the matter has said that it is not yet confirmed how much anchor investors will invest. This will be confirmed only when the final issue price of the IPO is communicated to them. This whole process is going on and we will complete it soon.
On the other hand, according to information received by Mint quoting sources, the government is planning to cut the valuation of LIC’s public offer by 30 percent to make this IPO more attractive.
Significantly, after rising inflation, possible hike in interest rates and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the market sentiment has worsened all over the world. In such a situation, the government is giving more emphasis on making LIC’s IPO attractive.