The nation's top insurer and largest institutional investor in the stock markets, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), is evaluating the possibility of investing in the anchor book portion of the Rs 12,500-crore IPO by HDFC Bank's subsidiary HDB Financial Services, multiple industry sources in the know told Moneycontrol.
If the move fructifies, it would be a rare bet by the insurance behemoth in the anchor book of a private sector IPO-bound firm.
"Discussions have been held in this regard and LIC is in the mix amongst other potential anchor investors," one of the persons quoted above said.
A second person confirmed the above. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The anchor portion of the HDB Financial Services IPO has been reserved for June 24 and the detailed list of anchor investors is expected later in the evening on the same day.
An email query to LIC, HDB Financial Services and the issuer's parent HDFC Bank remained unanswered at the time of publishing this article. This article will be updated as soon as we hear from the parties. Incidentally, LIC holds 5.45 per cent stake in HDFC Bank.
In an IPO, anchor book investors are typically institutional investors who are allocated a significant number of shares at a fixed price before the issue opens for public subscription. Anchor investors must make a minimum investment of Rs 10 crores.
HDB Financial Services will launch its much-anticipated Rs 12,500-crore IPO - India's biggest ever by an NBFC - from June 25 to 27. The price band has been set at Rs 700-Rs 740 per share.
On June 16, Moneycontrol was the first to report that HDB Financial Services was likely to launch its IPO by the end of June, targeting a post-money valuation of around $7.2 billion (around Rs 62,000 crore) at the higher end of the price band.
LIC, which has supported multiple public sector IPOs and disinvestment programmes by the government in the past, has bet on the record Rs 27,870-crore Hyundai Motor India IPO (outside the anchor book portion) and the Brookfield REIT QIP.
On June 5, the insurance behemoth announced that the company's current executive director Ramakrishnan Chander has taken charge as its Chief Investment Officer. Earlier, on May 15, it announced the appointment of Ratnakar Patnaik as well as Dinesh Pant as its managing directors (MDs).
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported a 38 percent rise in its net profit for the fourth quarter ending March 2025, reaching Rs 19,013 crore. This marks a rise of 38 percent from the Rs 13,763 crore net profit recorded during the same quarter in the previous fiscal year.
Also read: LIC accumulates shares worth over Rs 47,000 crore in Q4 amid market volatility
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