GIC TO LAUNCH ₹11,372 CR IPO ON OCTOBER 11

MUMBAI: General Insurance Corp of India Ltd (GIC Re) on Wednesday said it will launch its ₹11,372 crore ($1.7 billion) initial public offering (IPO) on October 11. It is the largest IPO in India in seven years. The reinsurer has priced its shares in a band of ₹855-912 per share, which values it at ₹75,000-80,000 crore. The offer will close on October 13.

GIC Re’s IPO is second only to Coal India Ltd’s ₹15,200-crore initial share sale in 2010, which remains the largest public offering till date by an Indian entity.

GIC Re is the largest reinsurance company in India and accounted for 60% of the premiums ceded by Indian insurers to reinsurers during fiscal 2017, according to Crisil Research.

The company offers reinsurance services in key businesses such as fire (property), marine, motor, aviation, liability, and life insurance, among others.

GIC Re also plans to acquire a reinsurance company that is a member of Lloyd’s of London.

“Syndicate business is on the cards. If any right target for acquisition comes up on the way, we will pick it up,” said Alice G. Vaidyan, chairman and managing director, GIC Re.

The IPO of GIC Re will see a total stake dilution of 14.22%.

The IPO includes a fresh issue of ₹1,568.6 crore. Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used for augmenting the capital base of the reinsurer to support the growth of its business, to maintain current solvency levels and for general corporate purposes.

The government, in an offer for sale, plans to sell a total of 107.5 million shares, which at the upper end of the price band will fetch ₹9,804 crore.