ICICI Lombard Seeks To Raise $892 Million In IPO Sale

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co Ltd's initial public offering of shares opening next week aims to raise up to Rs 57 billion, the latest listing in what is expected to be a record-setting year for India.

India has already seen $3.2 billion in IPOs this year, according to Thomson Reuters data, and looks set to easily surpass the $4 billion raised in 2016, the best year in six, led by a spate of upcoming listings from insurers.

Ajay Saraf, executive director at Mumbai investment bank ICICI Securities said he expected this year could even surpass the record $8.5 billion seen in 2010, as strong retail investment flows have sparked a 21.4 percent gain in the main NSE index so far this year.

ICICI Lombard looks set to be the next big IPO, after it late on Thursday set a price range of Rs 651 to Rs 661 a share for its IPO. The insurer will take orders on September 15-19.

The company's two main shareholders - ICICI Bank Ltd ICBK.NS and Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd FFH.TO - are selling a combined 86.2 million shares, or a 19 percent stake, in what is the first Indian IPO by a non-life insurer.

Insurers are expected to be one of the main drivers of IPOs this year as two of the country's biggest life insurers - SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd and HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co Ltd - are set to raise a total of about $2.5 billion in the coming weeks, according to banker estimates.

Relatively lower insurance penetration and rising income levels helping people buy more insurance products in Asia's third-largest economy, raising the outlook for the sector.

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.

($1 = 63.9050 Indian rupees)

(Reuters)