SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd would launch an initial public offering (IPO) on September 20 to raise as much as $1.3 billion, Reuters reported.
This would country's first billion-dollar IPO in nearly seven years. SBI Life, a subsidiary of top Indian lender State Bank of India (SBI.NS), will open the IPO sale to the public on September 20 and close it on September 22, according to a filing.
State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardif is expected to raise over Rs 8,000 crore as they would become the second life insurance company to list on the exchanges by selling 12% stake in joint venture.
SBI Life's IPO is the biggest since state-run Coal India's 155 billion rupee ($2.4 billion) IPO in 2010 and market participants expect 2017 to be a record-setting year for India, with fund-raising from IPOs exceeding 2010's $8.5 billion.
The country has already seen more than $3 billion in IPOs this year, according to Thomson Reuters data, and has a number of upcoming listings from insurers, which should take it well past the $4 billion raised from IPOs last year.
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co Ltd's IPO to raise up to $890 million opens on Friday, while state-run reinsurer General Insurance Corp of India (GIC Re) and non-life insurer New India Assurance Co Ltd have also filed for IPOs that bankers estimate could raise a total of more than $3 billion.
