India is likely to begin the formal marketing for a planned share sale in Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) next month which is set to raise as much as Rs 10,000 crore ($1 billion) for India's largest public sector insurer.
The government plans to sell a stake of about 2 per cent in the state-run insurer in late June or early July to institutional investors, as reported by Bloomberg.
Reacting to the development, the shares of LIC fell up to 4%.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, under India’s Finance Ministry, is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Ltd., BNP Paribas SA and IIFL Capital Services Ltd. to manage the transaction, it said citing people aware with the matter.
In May 2022, India sold a 3.5% stake in LIC coming as country’s largest initial public offering, raising about 210 billion rupees.
As of March 31, government owned 96.5% of shares in the LIC. It has been granted 10 years from its 2022 listing to meet the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) minimum 25% public shareholding requirement, giving it until May 2032 to comply.
In its recently announced Q4 results, the LIC has reported a 23% year-on-year (YoY) growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 23,467 crore in the fourth quarter of FY26. Last year, the insurer had reported Rs 19,039 crore in terms of profit.
LIC's board also recommended a final dividend of Rs 10 per share for the financial year 2025-26.
Net premium income rose 12% to Rs 1.65 lakh crore compared with Rs 1.48 lakh crore a year earlier.
LIC has also recently announced its first-ever bonus share issue since listing on the stock exchanges. Under the approved bonus ratio, eligible shareholders will receive one free share for each existing LIC share held.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
