Govt shortlists four law firms to assist in LIC IPO

The government has shortlisted Crawford Bayley, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Link Legal and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co to assist in the initial public offering of Life Insurance Corporation of India. The government’s first attempt had failed to get adequate response from intermediaries.

The Centre has shortlisted four law firms to assist it in the initial public offering (IPO) of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

Crawford Bayley, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Link Legal, and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co are the shortlisted firms, and will make a representation before the government on Friday.

The financial bids will be opened by a high-level committee after the presentations are made, and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will intimate the qualified bidder. Earlier, the government had not received adequate response from law firms, and had floated a fresh request for proposal with some relaxations.

It introduced “milestone payments” where the selected legal adviser would receive 50 per cent of the fee after the filing of the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) and the rest after the listing of LIC’S shares.

The Centre is looking to launch the IPO in the last quarter of this fiscal.