India's Digit Insurance eyes $440 million in IPO -filing, source

By M. Sriram and Chris Thomas

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Digit Insurance, backed by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa's Fairfax Group, aims to raise around $440 million through an initial public offering (IPO), according to a source with direct knowledge and regulatory documents filed on Tuesday.

Founded in 2017, Digit is trying to expand its presence in general insurance by offering a better customer experience including easier claim settlements.

The company's prospectus filed on Tuesday showed the IPO will consist of a fresh issue of shares worth 12.5 billion Indian rupees ($158 million).

Large existing shareholders will also sell up to 109.4 million shares, it said, without specifying the funds that would raise.

The source directly aware of the matter, however, said that sale will raise roughly $282 million, bringing the total IPO size to around $440 million.

Digit declined to comment on the total IPO size.

Reuters first reported Digit Insurance's plans to raise funds via an IPO on May 25.

Morgan Stanley and local investment banks ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, Edelweiss Financial Services, HDFC Bank and IIFL Securities are managing the IPO.

Digit reported total income of $571.70 million for the fiscal year ended in March, up from $362.23 million a year earlier, filings showed. Its losses grew to $37.29 million from $15.47 million.

Digit plans to use the IPO proceeds to shore up its balance sheet and maintain cash reserves which the regulator requires of insurance companies, it said.

(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru and M. Sriram in Mumbai; editing by Tom Hogue and Jason Neely)