Mumbai: Reliance Industries-backed Jio Platforms’ $3.2 billion initial public offering (IPO) attracted bids for more than twice the shares on offer by Wednesday afternoon, after the issue was fully subscribed within 100 minutes of opening, marking an unprecedented pace for a major Indian share sale, according to Reuters.
The IPO, the first public offering from billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance conglomerate in two decades, has drawn strong interest from institutional investors, with the company seeking a valuation of up to $108.3 billion.
Institutional investors subscribed to 4.9 times their reserved portion, exchange data showed on Wednesday. The overall issue was fully subscribed in less than two hours, with institutional investors exhausting their allotted quota within 10 minutes, according to two people familiar with the offering.
However, participation from retail investors remained comparatively subdued. Around one-third of the issue has been reserved for retail applicants, who had bid for 0.54 times their allotted portion, the data showed.
The IPO comes at a time when Indian equity markets have remained subdued and investors are increasingly scrutinising valuations, particularly in technology-linked businesses amid concerns over artificial intelligence-related investments.
Jio Platforms, which houses India’s largest telecommunications operator, has more than 500 million subscribers, making it the world’s second-largest telecoms operator in a single country after China Mobile. The company is backed by global technology giants Meta and Google, alongside major institutional investors.
More than 90% of Jio Platforms’ revenue comes from its telecommunications business, which began operations in 2016 under the leadership of Akash Ambani, son of Mukesh Ambani.
Jio transformed India’s telecom market by offering inexpensive mobile data and free voice calls, rapidly gaining market share from competitors such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
Market experts attributed the strong investor response to the company’s established business model and valuation.
Aishvarya Dadheech, founder of Fident Asset Management, said the rapid subscription was surprising given that large Indian IPOs typically attract stronger demand towards the closing days of an offering.
The company has set a price band of Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 per share, with the issue scheduled to close on Friday. Trading is expected to begin on October 28.
Earlier this week, Jio Platforms allotted shares worth $853 million to more than 200 global and domestic investors, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and BlackRock, after the institutional portion reserved for such investors attracted bids worth over $25 billion.
Jio Platforms reported a profit of approximately $3.2 billion on revenue of $15.5 billion for the financial year ended March.
According to its IPO prospectus, the company plans to use up to $2.89 billion of the proceeds to repay or prepay borrowings at its telecommunications subsidiary, with the remaining funds earmarked for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditure.
The offering marks Reliance’s first IPO since 2006. Mukesh Ambani had first promised a listing within five years in 2019, but the plans were subsequently delayed.
The issue is being launched during India’s festive season, traditionally considered auspicious for purchases, even as market conditions remain uncertain.
