Fairfax group-backed Digit Insurance files draft papers for India IPO

BENGALURU (Reuters) -India's Digit Insurance, backed by Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa's Fairfax Group, has filed for an initial public offering, papers submitted to the market regulator showed on Tuesday.

Founded in 2017, Digit is trying to expand its presence in India's under-penetrated general insurance market by offering a better customer experience including easier claim settlements.

The IPO consists of a fresh issue of shares worth 12.5 billion rupees, while existing shareholders will sell up to 109.4 million shares, the prospectus https://www.axiscapital.co.in/uploads/equity_documents/dhrp/go-digit-general-insurance-limited.pdf showed.

The total IPO is likely to be worth 35 billion rupees ($440 million), according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Digit Insurance declined to comment on the IPO's size.

Reuters first reported on May 25 about Digit Insurance's plans to raise $500 million via an IPO.

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

($1 = 79.4210 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru and M. Sriram in Mumbai; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Tom Hogue)