Global Markets
Jio Platforms' record IPO closes 22.19 times subscribed, with institutions bidding for 70 times their allocation
The ₹30,213 crore offer drew bids for 438 crore shares, but retail demand was a far more modest 2.72 times ahead of the October 28 listing.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Jio Platforms' initial public offering, the Reliance Industries telecom and digital unit's ₹30,213 crore share sale, closed on Friday with bids for 22.19 times the shares available. Investors sought about 438.26 crore shares against roughly 19.75 crore on offer, according to cumulative National Stock Exchange data as of 7 p.m. India time reported by Upstox.
Qualified institutional buyers drove the book, bidding for 70.55 times their portion. Non-institutional investors, typically wealthy individuals and corporates, subscribed 14 times, while the retail tranche was covered 2.72 times. The portion reserved for Reliance shareholders was taken 7.60 times and the employee slice 2.93 times, Daijiworld reported, adding that the deal drew more than 1.35 crore applications, which it said beat the previous high of about 97 lakh set by Waaree Energies.
The offer consists only of 27 crore new shares, priced in a band of ₹1,065 to ₹1,119, with no existing holder selling. Up to ₹27,500 crore of the proceeds is set to repay borrowings at Reliance Jio Infocomm. Before the book opened, 212 anchor investors, among them BlackRock, Fidelity, GIC and ADIA, took about ₹8,110 crore of stock. Allotment is expected to be finalised on October 26, with shares credited on October 27 and trading due to begin on the BSE and NSE on October 28.
Why it matters: The gap between 70-times institutional demand and under-3-times retail demand shows the deal was carried by large funds, which will shape how much stock changes hands, and at what price, on debut day. It closed in a difficult week for Indian equities: the Sensex fell 2.15% in the holiday-shortened week to 73,123.83 on Friday, its fourth straight losing session, as Brent climbed to about $116.73 a barrel. For allocators, the listing will give a standalone market value for a business previously priced only inside Reliance, and the first-day trading will be a read on how much risk appetite India's market has left while oil stays high.