LIC fixes price band at Rs 902-949/share for Rs 21,000-cr IPO

New Delhi, April 26

Insurance behemoth LIC has fixed the price band at Rs 902-949 per share for its Rs 21,000-crore public offer. It would offer a Rs 60 discount for policyholders and Rs 40 for retail investors and employees. The issue is likely to open for subscription on May 4 and close on May 9, and the bid lot would be 15. Anchor investors can subscribe to the shares on May 2.

The LIC has reserved 2.21 crore shares or 10% of the issue size for its policyholders and 15 lakh shares for its employees. After these reservations, 50% of the remaining shares will be allocated to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 35% to retail investors and 15% to non-institutional investors.

The government has also filed papers with SEBI seeking exemption from the 5% stake sale norm for companies with a valuation of over Rs 1 lakh crore as it now wants to offload only 3.5% stake.

In February, the draft red herring prospectus filed by the LIC had intended to sell 5% stake or 31.6 crore shares. The original intention was to sell 10% of the holding in the maiden IPO.