Jio Platforms to begin investor outreach ahead of proposed November IPO

MUMBAI: Jio is getting ready to dial up investors. Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms is preparing to begin formal investor outreach as early as next week, setting the stage for a potential November IPO that could rank among India’s largest-ever public offerings, according to a Bloomberg report.

The digital and telecommunications arm of Reliance Industries is expected to hold investor meetings across the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, London and the Middle East, the report said. Jio is currently targeting a November listing, although the size, valuation and timing of the offering remain under discussion and could change.

Jio Platforms filed its draft IPO documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on June 19 and received regulatory approval on August 28.

The company could raise as much as $4 billion through the offering, according to people familiar with the matter cited in the report. If that size goes ahead, the issue would rank among the biggest equity offerings in India.

The proposed listing would also be a significant marker in Reliance’s transformation from an oil and petrochemicals major into a broader consumer and technology conglomerate. It would give public-market investors direct exposure to Jio Platforms, which owns India’s largest wireless carrier.

Jio enters the IPO process with a sizeable roster of global institutional backers. In 2020, the company raised around Rs 1.52 lakh crore by selling a combined stake of roughly 33 per cent to strategic and financial investors.

Meta acquired a 9.99 per cent stake for Rs 43,574 crore, while Google invested Rs 33,737 crore for a 7.73 per cent holding. The remaining investment came from a high-profile group including Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton, PIF, Intel Capital and Qualcomm Ventures.

Importantly, none of these investors is selling its holding as part of the proposed IPO. Their continued presence would leave the public offering focused on bringing Jio to the stock market rather than providing an exit for its existing strategic and financial backers.

For Reliance, the potential listing represents another step in monetising and widening access to the businesses built during its digital transformation. For investors, meanwhile, the roadshow will offer an early look at how Jio’s growth story, valuation and scale could translate into one of India’s most closely watched stock-market debuts.