India's Canara HSBC Life Insurance Seeks Public Debut Through IPO

(Romero.my.id) -Draft documents revealed on Tuesday that India’s Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company has submitted paperwork for an initial public offering. The current stakeholders plan to offload part of their shares as well.

Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company is a joint venture initiated by Canara Bank, an Indian government-run bank holding a 51% share, along with HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings from the HSBC Group, possessing a 26% stake.

The insurance company, overseeing over 400 billion rupees ($4.7 billion) in assets, has not specified the scale or schedule for the initial public offering; however, they have mentioned that no new shares will be issued.

According to the draft documents, Canara Bank plans to offload as many as 137.75 million shares through the initial public offering, whereas HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific) Holdings intends to sell up to 4.75 million shares.

Punjab National Bank (PNBK.NS), which owns the remaining 23%, intends to offload as many as 95 million shares.

This announcement coincides with an increase in worldwide market instability, triggered by the U.S.'s inconsistent approach to tariffs, which compels businesses to adjust their plans for initial public offerings to prevent poor interest or unsuccessful launches.

In 2024, India stood as the globe's second-biggest marketplace for initial public offerings based on funds raised. Nonetheless, according to data gathered by LSEG, new listings have decreased by approximately 15% compared to earlier this year.

In the fiscal year ending March 2024, Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company recorded a post-tax profit of 1.13 billion rupees, marking a 24.3% increase from the previous year as per their draft prospectus. Nonetheless, revenue saw only a slight decline of 1%. The company has not yet released its financials for the fiscal year 2025.

This marks the second initial public offering from a Canara Bank-supported entity recently, coming right after Canara Robeco Asset Management Company submitted their paperwork the previous week.

($1 = 85.1340 INR)

(Reported by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Edited by Janane Venkatraman)