Jio Platforms IPO likely to open this month; foreign investor feedback positive: Sources

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Jio Platforms Ltd, the digital holding company of Reliance Industries that houses India’s largest mobile network, is preparing to launch its much-anticipated initial public offering this month, with internal preparations nearly complete and foreign investors giving "unusually positive" feedback, pointing to a significant premium over listed peers, people familiar with the matter said.

The IPO is expected to open for public subscription from October 21 to 23, with the anchor book likely to open on October 19 and the shares targeted to debut on the stock exchanges on October 28, subject to market conditions.

“Jio is fairly close to launching its IPO, although market conditions and global developments will play a role in its timing,” one of the people cited above said, requesting anonymity. “The regulatory process with Sebi is largely complete, with all necessary approvals in place."

Jio held investor meetings with foreign institutional investors (FIIs), whose response has been encouraging. Domestic investor interest has also been strong, exceeding expectations, people familiar with the matter said.

“The market situation is being monitored closely on a daily basis,” said the second person, referring to recent volatility in the stock market. Investors said market fluctuations should not materially affect their appetite for the shares.

“Markets are somewhat volatile at the moment, but investors have indicated that this should not materially affect their demand or appetite to participate in the IPO,” the person said.

Jio Platforms filed its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in June. Sebi issued its final observations on August 28, clearing the way for the IPO.

The IPO, which will comprise entirely of a fresh issue of shares, will primarily be used to repay or prepay, in whole or in part, about Rs 27,500 crore of outstanding borrowings of Reliance Jio Infocomm, a unit of Jio Platforms. The remaining proceeds are earmarked for general corporate purposes.

The IPO’s final pricing and valuation have not yet been determined. A decision on pricing would be taken in the coming week, considering investor feedback and market conditions, the people added.

“The objective is to ensure that shareholders entering the company create value for themselves from the outset, as well as over the longer term,” the second person said.

Under the proposed issue structure, 50 percent of the issue is earmarked for retail and high-net-worth individual (HNI) investors, while the remaining half is allocated to institutional investors.

Within the retail and HNI portion, 35 percent is intended for retail investors applying for shares up to Rs 2 lakh. An additional 15 percent is split between investors applying for more than Rs 10 lakh and those investing between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. The institutional portion includes an anchor book and a main institutional book.

Jio Platforms management wants retail investors to participate meaningfully in the listing and benefit from long-term value creation, the people said.

Jio Platforms did not respond to an email sent on Friday evening.

Digital services business

Investors are viewing Jio as a digital services company rather than just a telecom operator, with growth opportunities across mobility, home broadband, enterprise technology and international services.

Jio Platforms' telecom unit, Reliance Jio Infocomm, had 524.4 million customers as of March 31, making it India’s largest telecom operator by subscriber base. It had 268.5 million 5G customers and was the largest 5G standalone operator outside China. Jio was also the world’s largest fixed wireless access provider outside China, with about 15 million subscribers, about 1.5 times T-Mobile’s base, according to the company.