Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms is launching what could be India's biggest initial public offering, targeting a valuation of 10.3 trillion rupees (£81bn) when shares open to retail investors on Wednesday, the Guardian reported on Tuesday. The Mumbai-based telecoms group, backed by Meta Platforms and Google, aims to raise up to 302 billion rupees (£2.4bn) in the share sale, which closes on Friday.
Jio Platforms secured 212 anchor investors on Monday, including BlackRock, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Fidelity Investments, Schroders, JP Morgan Asset Management, Franklin Templeton, Invesco and Prudential. Reliance Industries, the parent conglomerate controlled by Ambani, said in a stock exchange filing last week that Jio had set a price range of 1,065 rupees to 1,119 rupees a share for up to 270 million new shares. The family-owned conglomerate has been encouraging its 400,000-plus employees to buy shares, offering them a discount of 54 rupees a share.
At the top end of the price range, Jio would become India's fourth-largest company, behind Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank. The valuation would be more than twice the 4.9 trillion-rupee figure in 2020, when Meta and Google invested in the company. Set up a decade ago as a subsidiary of Reliance Industries and led by Akash Ambani, the oldest son of Mukesh Ambani, Jio offers low-cost broadband to millions of Indians.
The top valuation is far below initial expectations of more than £110bn when the telecoms group posted a draft prospectus in the summer. The blue chip Nifty 50 index is down more than 12 per cent this year. Isha Ambani, who sits on Jio's board as a director, told investors last week that the business idea was spawned by the poor connectivity she and her brother Akash faced when they returned to India on a break from studying in the US in about 2009-10.
Why it matters for wealth
The IPO represents one of the largest emerging-market capital events of the year, with anchor allocations already placing shares with global fund managers. The valuation discount from summer expectations reflects broader Indian equity weakness, which may affect portfolio allocations and exit timing for investors in the region.
The IPO closes on Friday.
Source: The Guardian
Photo: Pixabay / Pexels
