A public issue of shares by government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is set to be the country’s biggest till now at $8 billion. The IPO is expected to start for anchor investors on March 11, as reported by news agency Reuters citing sources.

For other investors, the issue will open a couple of days later for bidding.

LIC’s initial public offering (IPO) is likely to receive regulatory approval by the first week of March, after which an indicative marketing price ban will be determined, reported Reuters.

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In India, where equity deals worth more than a couple of billion dollars are rare, the insurer’s IPO will be a test of the depth of the capital markets. Last year, Paytm (PAYT.NS) filed for the biggest IPO to date worth $2.5 billion.

Investor appetite for new equity deals will also be boosted by LIC’s offering, as several Indian companies that listed last year have been trading below their offer prices over worries about lofty valuations and looming interest rate hikes.

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The IPO launch schedule could change but for now, the issuer was working to meet those timelines, as per the Reuters report.

India’s largest insurance firm, LIC, filed its IPO draft prospectus (DRHP) on February 13, 2022, with the SEBI to dilute 5% of the Indian government’s stake to potentially raise around $8 billion.

The government is running to complete the IPO by the March end to meet its 2021/22 fiscal deficit target of 6.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) and raise around Rs 600 billion ($8.03 billion) from the issue.

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Indian government sharply reduced its divestment and privatisation targets for the financial year ending on March 31 to Rs 780 billion from 1.75 trillion. So far it has raised just Rs 120 billion from selling stakes in state-run companies.

Investor roadshows for the offering, which at $8 billion is set to be the third-largest insurance IPO globally, started earlier this week, two of the sources said.

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SBI Caps, Citigroup, Nomura, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, along with five other domestic and international investment banks, are book-running lead managers for the deal.

LIC’s forthcoming IPO has affected shares in other listed Indian insurers as investors reduced their holdings to make room for the state-owned insurance giant.