Canara HSBC Life IPO sees tepid response; subscribed 6% on day 1

New Delhi: The initial share sale of Canara HSBC Life Insurance received a muted response from investors, garnering just 6 per cent subscription on the first day of bidding on Friday.

The company's IPO received bids for 92,46,020 shares against 16,67,15,000 shares on offer, according to details available with the NSE till 12:57 pm.

The retail individual investors (RIIs) category was subscribed 9 per cent, and the portion for non-institutional investors received 3 per cent. The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category did not see any participation so far.

On Thursday, Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company raised a little over Rs 750 crore from anchor investors.

The Rs 2,516-crore maiden public offering of the insurer will conclude on October 14.

The company has set a price band of Rs 100 to Rs 106 per share for its IPO, targeting a valuation of about Rs 10,000 crore at the upper end.

Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company is a joint venture promoted by Canara Bank, which holds a 51 per cent stake, and HSBC Group's HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings, which owns 26 per cent.

Canara HSBC Life's IPO is a complete offer for sale (OFS) of 23.75 crore equity shares by promoters and an investor.

Under the OFS, Canara Bank will sell 13.77 crore equity shares, HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific) Holdings Ltd will offload 47.5 lakh shares, and Punjab National Bank plans to divest 9.5 crore equity shares.

Since it's an OFS, the company will not receive any proceeds from the public issue; instead, funds will go to selling shareholders.

Incorporated in 2007, Canara HSBC Life has grown into a prominent bank-led private player in the Indian life insurance sector.

In terms of issue allocation, 50 per cent of the IPO is reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 35 per cent for retail investors, and the remaining 15 per cent for non-institutional investors. Further, investors can bid for a minimum of 140 shares and in multiples thereof.

Canara HSBC Life is expected to make its stock market debut on October 17.

In December 2024, Canara Bank announced that it had received the Reserve Bank's approval for a proposal to divest the bank's stake in life insurance and mutual fund ventures.