ASBA-designated bank branches to remain open on Sunday for LIC IPO: Reserve Bank

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that all ASBA-designated bank branches will remain open for public on Sunday to facilitate processing of applications for LIC's initial public offering.

Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that all ASBA-designated bank branches will remain open for public on Sunday to facilitate processing of applications for LIC's initial public offering. State-owned LIC's Initial Public Offering (IPO), the country's biggest ever offer, opened for subscription by retail and institutional investors on Wednesday.

The offer will close on May 9 and there wil be bidding on May 7 (Saturday) also. The Government of India, in order to facilitate bidding for LIC IPO, has requested that all bank branches designated to process ASBA (Application Supported by Blocked Amount) applications may be kept open for public on May 8, 2022 (Sunday), RBI said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The matter has been examined and it has been decided that banks may keep all their ASBA designated branches open on May 8, 2022 (Sunday) for the above purpose," it said. Generally, ASBA is the mechanism through which investors apply for shares in a public issue. On Wednesday, the first day of the IPO, the retail portion has been oversubscribed while the overall subscription stood at 0.64 per cent.

The government aims to generate about Rs 21,000 crore by diluting its 3.5 per cent stake in the insurance behemoth. LIC has fixed the price band at Rs 902-949 per equity share for the issue. The offer includes a reservation for eligible employees and policyholders. The retail investors and eligible employees will get a discount of Rs 45 per equity share, and policyholders will get a discount of Rs 60 per equity share. The share sale is through the Offer For Sale (OFS) of up to 22.13 crore equity shares and the listing is likely on May 17.

PTI