Bids invited by LIC for stake sale in unlisted company

Bids have been invited by LIC from merchant bankers for the purpose of disinvestment of its “stake in equity shares of an identified unlisted company through a transparent bidding process”. According to the sources, while LIC did not disclose the name of the “unlisted company” in an advertisement, the company is likely to be UTI Mutual Fund. UTI Mutual Fund’s four domestic shareholders — Life Insurance Corporation, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda — hold around 18.5% stake each. The four stakeholders also have their own asset management companies (AMCs). As the crossholding rules of market regulator Sebi applies to all the four promoters, they will have to bring down the stake in UTI Mutual Fund below 10% and give board seats. US-based fund T Rowe Price holds the remaining 26 per cent stake in UTI Mutual Fund.