Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are BR Lead Managers for LIC IPO

The Centre has finalised the Book Running Lead Managers (BRLM) for the much awaited initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

The selected BRLM include Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd, Goldman Sachs Securities, ICICI Securities, and JM Financial.

The others are Citigroup Global Markets India, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India), Axis Capital, DSP Merrill Lynch, and SBI Capital Market.

"Government has finalised the Book Running Lead Managers and some other advisors for the IPO of LIC," said the Twitter handle of the Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).

Further, the government has selected KFintech Ltd as the registrar & share transfer agent for the proposed IPO.

Concept Communication Ltd has been selected as the advertising agency.

In June, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its in-principle approval to the IPO.

Post the Union Budget FY22, the government has taken several legislative and executive steps to pave way for the mega IPO.

As per the amendments proposed under the Finance Bill 2021, the authorized share capital of LIC shall be Rs 25,000 crore, divided into 2,500 crore shares of Rs 10 each.

Capital market regulator SEBI has also eased the minimum public offer norms in a bid to pave the way for the LIC IPO.

In February, the board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has decided to recommend changes in regulations, and for issuers with post-issue market capital exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore, the requirement of minimum public offering (MPO) will be reduced from 10 percent of post-issue market capital to Rs 10,000 crore along with 5 percent of the incremental amount beyond Rs 1 lakh crore.

The government expects to bring the IPO around Diwali this year. According to Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) K.V. Subramanian, the LIC IPO may fetch the government around Rs 1 lakh crore.

The Life Insurance Corporation of India, a statutory Corporation constituted under the LIC Act 1956, is a leading life insurer of India wholly owned by the government. It has three branches outside India - in the UK, Fiji and Mauritius, a wholly-owned subsidiary in Singapore, and joint ventures in Bahrain, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh. Its subsidiaries in India include LIC Pension Fund Ltd, and LIC Cards Services Ltd.

Its associates include the IDBI Bank Ltd, the LIC Mutual Fund, and the LIC Housing Finance Ltd.