SBI Life's Rs 8,400-cr IPO sails through on institutional demand

Bids received for 314 million shares, 3.6 times the shares on offer; Retail portion saw 82.5% subscription

The Rs 8,400-crore initial public offering (IPO) of SBI Life Insurance Company managed to sail through on high demand from institutional investors. The country's leading private life insurer's IPO, however, failed to enthuse retail and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), with shares in these two categories remaining undersubscribed.

SBI Life's 88.2-million share offering received bids for 314 million shares---3.6 times the shares on offer. Nearly 85 per cent the bids came in the so-called qualified institutional buyer (QIB) segment. The retail portion of the IPO saw 82.5 per cent subscription and the HNI investor portion was subscribed 70 per cent.

The low demand from