Mumbai: Analysts are divided on retail participation in the ₹30,000 crore offer for sale (OFS) from Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC), with opinions split between attractive valuations and absence of near-term triggers at the insurance behemoth.
While some see merit in the insurer's discounted pricing and low price-to-embedded value compared with private peers, others caution that the OFS primarily aimed at meeting minimum public shareholding norms may not drive immediate upside.On August 3, the Centre announced an OFS in LIC, with the issue set to open for non-retail investors August 4.
Here's all you need to knowThe retail tranche of the two-day share sale will open for bids on Wednesday after the non-retail portion was subscribed more than three times on Tuesday, the first day of the issue.Bids were placed for more than 940 million shares against the 284.6 million shares on the block, prompting the government to activate the green-shoe option.The stock fell 8.6% to ₹391.40 on Tuesday.
The floor price for the OFS was set at ₹382 per share, a discount of about 10% to LIC's closing price of ₹424.40 on July 3.As of March 2026, the government held a 96.5% stake in the insurer.
Investors with a long-term horizon may consider participating in the LIC OFS, given the compelling valuation gap, said Ajit Mishra, SVP Research, Religare Broking.
