Jio IPO draws $77 billion in bids, sets Indian subscription record
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Bids for Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms initial public offering exceeded $77 billion on Friday, making it India’s most subscribed share sale, Reuters reported.
The telecoms and digital business surpassed the record set by Reliance Power’s 2008 offering, part of his brother Anil Ambani’s group.
Ambani’s first IPO in 20 years is being closely watched as a measure of investor appetite for large listings amid greater scrutiny of stocks linked to artificial intelligence.
The offering values Jio Platforms at up to $108.3 billion, potentially placing it among India’s largest listed companies by market capitalisation when trading begins on Wednesday.
Public subscriptions exceeded 22 times the shares available, with demand from institutional investors, retail buyers, employees and shareholders.
If those bids were largely submitted near the upper price limit of 1,119 rupees ($11.79) a share, their combined value would exceed $51.5 billion.
Separately, anchor investors including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, BlackRock and Fidelity submitted bids worth $25.6 billion for the $854 million allocation reserved for them.
Record number of applications
The IPO attracted more than 13.8 million applications, the highest number recorded for an Indian offering, a Reliance official told Reuters.
By comparison, Chinese memory chip manufacturer CXMT’s $8.6 billion IPO, Asia’s largest this year, drew about 9.4 million accounts.
“This is a Reliance IPO after a long time, which is triggering a lot of exuberance and euphoria for the stock,” said Kranthi Bathini, equity strategist at WealthMills Securities.
Jio’s offering was fully subscribed within two hours of opening on Wednesday. Indian IPO subscriptions typically build more gradually, with institutional investors often placing orders in the final hours.
Reliance’s investment record
Jio Platforms is led by Ambani’s eldest son, Akash Ambani, and counts Meta Platforms and Google among its longstanding investors. Its mobile network serves more than 500 million users in India.
The share sale coincides with the Hindu festive season, considered an auspicious period.
Its parent, Reliance Industries, is widely regarded by Indian investors as a source of long-term wealth. Reliance shares have gained about 900 per cent since 2006, compared with a 685 per cent return for the benchmark Nifty index, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.