NEW DELHI: General Insurance Corp of India (GIC Re) is all set to kick off its mega Rs 11,370 crore initial public offer next week on October 11. This would be India's second biggest IPO ever after Coal India's Rs 15,200 crore issue in October 2008.

The state-run reinsurer said it will sell 12,47,00,000 shares in Rs 855-912 apiece price band in the IPO that will conclude on October13. The company said it will offer a discount of Rs. 45 per shares to retail investors and eligible employees. Investors can bid for a minimum of 16 shares and in multiples of 16thereafter.

"If you look at general finance sector, its valuations have steadily gone up over the last 5 to 10 years, as the market has figured out how to value such a sector. There is a business model. How do it expands, what are the cost, the capital requirement and other things -- these are all testing phases. Only one or two listings have happened in the insurance space so far. So it is in a discovery phase for the market," said Sunil Subramaniam, CEO, Sundaram Mutual Fund

"We have some more listings coming in in terms of the insurance companies GIC and New India. So there will be supply and you will get what you call a price realisation," Subramaniam said.

General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) is the largest reinsurance company in India in terms of gross premiums accepted in Fiscal 2017, and accounted for approximately 60 per cent of the premiums ceded by Indian insurers to reinsurers during Fiscal 2017, according to CRISIL Research.

GIC provides reinsurance across many key business lines including fire (property), marine, motor, engineering, agriculture, aviation/space, health, liability, credit and financial and life insurance. With more than 44 years of experience in, and commitment to, providing reinsurance products and services, GIC believes that they have become a trusted brand to it’s insurance and reinsurance customers in India and overseas.