Page 13 - Banking Finance October 2025

MUTUAL FUND

Urban Company IPO sub-

scribed 104x, highest in
2025
Urban Company's initial public offering
was subscribed a whopping 103.6
times, making it the most subscribed
IPO in India this year. The offer re- Ò»©­
ceived bids for 1,106.5 crore shares
against 10.6 crore available.

The Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB)
portion led the surge, subscribed 140.2
times. Foreign investors applied for
264.9 crore shares, while domestic in-
stitutions and insurers bid for 319.7 supposed profits, the fraudsters asked LIC currently holds a 49.24% stake and
crore shares. for more money, citing tax demands. will divest about 30.24%, while the
government will sell around 30.48%,
Mutual funds contributed with 56.7 Realising he had been duped, totaling a 60.72% divestment.
crore shares, reflecting strong confi- Majumder reported the incident on the
dence. The Non-Institutional Investor National Cyber Reporting platform and Reclassification aligns LIC's role with
(NII) segment was subscribed 74 times, filed an FIR with the Bidhannagar SEBI norms and is essential for the
while the employee quota saw 36.8 Cyber Crime Police under provisions of acquirer's open offer documentation
times subscription. the BNS Act, 2023. and eventual stock exchange approval.
This strong demand highlights robust The incident underscores the increas- This regulatory milestone is a critical
investor sentiment and growing confi- ing sophistication of financial step in the long-awaited privatisation
dence in new-age digital service plat- cybercrime using social media plat- of IDBI Bank.
forms like Urban Company. forms.
Jio BlackRock predicts mu-
Man loses Rs. 20 lakh in SEBI clears LIC's reclassifi- tual fund industry will
online trading WhatsApp cation in IDBI Bank, paving triple by 2032
scam way for sale Jio BlackRock, the asset management

A 38-year-old man from Kestopur, SEBI has approved Life Insurance joint venture between Mukesh
Kolkata, lost around Rs. 20 lakh in an Corporation's (LIC) reclassification from Ambani's Jio Financial Services and glo-
online trading fraud after joining two promoter to public shareholder in IDBI bal giant BlackRock Inc., expects
WhatsApp groups posing as stock trad- Bank, facilitating the government's India's mutual fund industry to grow
ing forums. strategic disinvestment plan. threefold by 2032.
The victim, Arghya Kusum Majumder, The move, informed by DIPAM to LIC, Currently valued at $900 billion, the
initially encountered a post on will be effective post-transaction and sector is witnessing rapid inflows
Instagram offering stock market tips includes conditions such as capping driven by digital adoption, increasing
and was added to a group named "333 LIC's voting rights at 10% and barring financial literacy, and India's strong
BOB Caps-group," where he trans- board representation or management economic fundamentals.
ferred Rs. 12 lakh via IMPS and RTGS. control. Sid Swaminathan, CEO of Jio BlackRock
Later, he joined another group The Reserve Bank of India has also di- Asset Management, said digital plat-
"Trustline Strategy Circle 103" and rected LIC to reduce its stake in IDBI forms are expanding investor partici-
transferred an additional Rs. 7.9 lakh. Bank to 15% or below within two years pation across India's financial markets.
When he attempted to withdraw his after the strategic sale. The venture marks BlackRock's re-en-

12 | 2025 | OCTOBER | BANKING FINANCE