ICICI Prudential Life Insurance to Launch IPO by September

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd is likely to launch its Rs.6,000 crore initial public offering (IPO) by September, according to two people aware of the development.The IPO will be the first public offering of a life insurer in India.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance is a joint venture of India’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank Ltd and Prudential Corporation Holdings Ltd. The company began operations in 2000. ICICI Prudential will be filing its draft share sale documents before the end of July, said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity as he is not authorized to speak with reporters.

“Work on the documentation is going on in full swing. Insurance is a well-regulated business and the company has two major financial services companies as sponsors, so the level of corporate governance and reporting standards are high, and that makes the documentation work easier. Also, given that ICICI Prudential is looking at a launch timeline of September, it is imperative that the document gets filed as early as possible,” this person said.

The company has hired ICICI Securities Ltd and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to manage the share sale.Bank of America Merrill Lynch declined to comment on the development.

“Board of directors of ICICI Bank in April 2016 approved the sale of a part of its shareholding in ICICI Life through an IPO by the company, subject to market conditions and necessary approvals. The size and other details of the offer would be determined in due course,” said an ICICI Bank spokesperson, in response to emailed queries.Emails sent to ICICI Prudential Life and ICICI Securities Ltd remained unswered.ICICI Bank’s board had on 29 Apirl approved the sale of a part of its stake in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.