India’s state insurance company to list in biggest IPO

By KRUTIKA PATHI and ASHOK SHARMA
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — India is selling shares in its largest state-owned insurer in its biggest initial public offering ever. The IPO for Life Insurance Corp. is expected to raise up to $2.74 billion, part of plans by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to privatize some industries and fill state coffers. The offering was scaled back to 3.5% of the company’s equity from 5% given uncertainties prevailing in global markets. The Indian government also pushed back the stock offering from March to May, taking market conditions into consideration. The company is the fifth largest global insurer and was formed by the merger in 1956 of 245 private insurance companies.