Govt seeks to raise up to $1.7 bn from state-run reinsurer GIC Re's IPO

Mumbai: State-run reinsurer General Insurance Corp of India’s (GIC Re) initial public offering of shares next week seeks to raise as much Rs 113.7 billion ($1.7 billion) in what will be India’s second-biggest IPO.

GIC Re set a price range of 855-912 rupees a share for its IPO that will run from Oct. 11-13, according to a public notice on Wednesday. At the upper end of the price range, the IPO would raise 113.7 billion rupees ($1.7 billion).

With almost $6 billion worth of IPO sales in the first three quarters of 2017, India is set for a record year aided by strong stock markets and higher fund flows into equity from institutions as well as retail investors. High valuations of share sales have however concerned some investors.

In the GIC Re IPO, the Indian government, which fully owns the reinsurer, will sell 107.5 million shares, while the company will raise funds by selling 17.2 million new shares. The total offer of 124.7 million shares constitutes 14.2 percent of the post-offer paid up share capital.

Citi, Axis Capital, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Kotak are the banks managing the GIC Re IPO, which is the biggest since Coal India’s 2010 share sale that raised 152 billion rupees.

To help bring the fiscal deficit meet a target of 3.2 percent of gross domestic product during the year to March 2018, the government aims to raise 725 billion rupees by divesting some of its stakes in state-run companies and private firms in which it holds minority stakes.