SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd, a unit of the State Bank of India, on Monday filed for an Initial Public Offering of shares, reported Reuters. SBI will sell up to 8% or 80 million shares of its 70% stake in SBI Life, while BNP Paribas Cardiff will sell up to 4% or 40 million shares of its 26% stake in the unit. An IPO is the first time a private company offers its shares to the public.

Bankers have said that the IPO could raise more than $1 billion (Rs 6,443 crore). SBI Life will not receive any proceeds from the IPO.

Apart from BNP Paribas, the issue of shares is being managed by Axis Capital, Citi, Deutsche Bank, ICICI Securities, JM Financial, Kotak Investment Banking and SBI Capital Markets.

SBI Life will be the second public insurance company to offer its shares to the public. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd was listed on the stock exchange in 2016, after an IPO valued at over $900 million (Rs 5,794 crore). ICICI Prudential Life Insurace Co Ltd had raised Rs 6,000 crore in its initial share sale, Mint reported.