LIC raises stake in ONGC to 9.5 pct after auction

MUMBAI (Reuters) - State-owned Life Insurance Corp's (LIC) holding in state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp has risen to 9.48 percent after a share sale auction in the company by the government last week. LIC has acquired 377.10 million shares, or 4.41 percent of the company, between Feb 8, 2011 and March 1, 2012, ONGC said in a statement to the stock exchange on Monday. The government, which offered a 5 percent stake in ONGC through a share auction on March 1, raised $2.57 billion after selling just 98.3 percent of the shares on offer. LIC took up more than half the offer, a banking source with direct knowledge said, while some media reports said the insurer had bought close to 90 percent of the shares.