In A First, LIC May Invest In Zomato Through Upcoming IPO Route

State-owned behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is said to be considering a bid for the upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of Gurugram-based online food delivery platform Zomato, reports Livemint.

The development gains significance as LIC typically invests in secondary markets unless the public issue is a part of the government’s divestment programme.

It should be noted that Zomato has seen its valuation surge from around $5.4 billion in January to over $8 billion in June. The company is now looking to raise as much as Rs 9,375 crore in a public issue.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that in the quarter ended 31 March, LIC’s holdings in publicly traded companies dropped to an all-time low of 3.66 per cent of the market value of 296 companies in which its holding is more than 1 per cent. It was 3.7 per cent as of 31 December.