Govt to select i-banksforLIC IPO this week
NEW DEHI: The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) will this week select investment bankers for the mega initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India with 16 book running lead managers (BRLMs) set to make presentations before a high-level committee on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday, international investment banks comprising BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt. Ltd, DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd (now known as BofA Securities), Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt. Ltd, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt. Ltd, J.P. Morgan India Pvt. Ltd and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd make their virtual presentations.
On Wednesday, domestic investment bankers comprising Axis Capital Ltd, DAM Capital Advisors Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Securities Ltd, IIFL Securities Ltd, JM Financial Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. Ltd, SBI Capital Market Ltd and Yes Securities India Ltd will make presentations.
Last month, the Union cabinet cleared the IPO of LIC, India’s largest insurer which is expected to be listed in stock exchanges in the March quarter of this fiscal. The government is betting on the share sale to help narrow its fiscal deficit amid rising expenditure and a slump in revenues because of the pandemic. The government has set a mammoth ₹1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target for this fiscal.
DIPAM on July 15 said it will appoint up to 10 investment bankers with requisite experience in public offering, who together will form a team and would be called Book Running Lead Managers (BRLMs). Interested bidders must have handled at least one transaction of IPO of a size of at least ₹5,000 crore and have managed at least one equity capital market transaction or should have managed at least one offer for sale or qualified institutional placement of at least ₹15,000 crore.
“The short-listed bidders would be required to demonstrate their credentials before an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) through a presentation, covering the areas/ criteria listed above. The IMG would evaluate the Bidders on the criteria mentioned based on their presentation and proposals received and shortlist them for the purpose of opening of financial bids,” Dipam said.
The investment bankers will decide the size of the IPO, its structure and timing in consultation with Dipam.