Upcoming IPO: ACKO moves ahead with public issue plans, appoints merchant bankers

Upcoming IPO: Digital-first insurer ACKO has started preparations for the stock market debut by appointing Kotak Securities, ICICI Securities and Morgan Stanley as its book-running lead managers.

The IPO is expected to be a combination of a fresh issue of shares and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component by existing investors.

Founded by Varun Dua, ACKO received its licence in late 2017 and commenced operations in 2018. The company has raised over USD 583 million in funding from investors, including General Atlantic, Multiples PE, Accel, Elevation Capital and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

In contrast to legacy insurers such as ICICI Lombard and newer players like Digit Insurance, which rely significantly on agents and intermediaries, ACKO operates on a direct-to-consumer (D2C) model, eliminating the traditional distribution layer.

The company has emerged as one of the fastest-growing general insurers in India. In FY25, ACKO reported revenue of ₹2,837 crore, marking a 35% increase over the previous fiscal, significantly higher than the sub-10% growth recorded by the broader insurance sector. It also reduced its net losses by 37% year-on-year, the sources said.

EAAA India Alternatives, Yatayat Corp, MV Electrosystems get SEBI's approval to float IPOs

In a separate development, SEBI last week approved initial share sales of Edelweiss Financial Services arm EAAA India Alternatives, overhead electrification (OHE) products maker MV Electrosystems and logistics and transportation services firm Yatayat Corporation India to raise funds through IPOs.

The three companies had filed their DRHPs between December and January and obtained their observations during April 20-23.

In SEBI's terminology, issuance of observations means its approval to launch public offerings.