The Central Government has approached the sovereign wealth and pension funds to be anchor investors for the upcoming public issue of LIC.
These sovereign wealth and pension funds include the Qatar Investment Authority, Singapore-based GIC, three Canadian pension funds, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among others, it added.
The government wants to confirm their participation from these institutions because they are stable investors with a long-term horizon and have previously indicated interest in the public issue, an official said.
“Many leading sovereign funds expressed interest in the LIC IPO. Merchant bankers are in advanced discussions with them for being anchor investors in the issue,” the official said.
During roadshows ahead of the IPO, touted to be rolled out in May, the Centre has tapped around 180 potential anchor investors. Officials told the paper at least eight to 10 “big-ticket foreign investors” will be required as anchor investors for India’s largest-ever IPO.
“One key consideration is the listing price and the market capitalisation at that level. Anything below Rs 10.7 lakh crore valuation at listing can make inclusion in the MSCI index difficult,” they said.
