LIC IPO: Government evaluates option to list LIC abroad

(This story originally appeared in on Oct 03, 2020)

New Delhi: The government is evaluating the option for an overseas listing of LIC, the country’s largest insurer, in what many believe will be a powerful signal to global investors.

The government has already announced its intent for an initial public offer (IPO) by the insurance giant, while also amending the Companies Act to allow Indian companies to directly list on foreign bourses.

Following the budget announcement, the government has appointed Deloitte and SBI Capital Markets as transaction advisors for LIC, while also initiating the process to amend the LIC Act as the Centre is the sole shareholder under the law.

The LIC is in the process of appointing an actuarial firm to arrive at the corporation’s embedded value — a valuation measure used by life companies to determine the present value of earning that will continue to flow in the future from policies that have already been sold.

Sources told TOI the enabling amendments are expected to be moved during the winter session of Parliament with the IPO likely earliest in Q4. Despite the amendments, the insurer will continue to be governed by the LIC Act, a source indicated.