Jio Platforms Conducts Largest IPO in India's History

Jio Platforms Ltd., the telecommunications and digital arm of Reliance Industries, conducted the largest initial public offering in India's history, raising $3.1 billion. On the first day of trading in Mumbai, the shares closed up 27%, Bloomberg reports.

This is the second-best start among major Indian IPOs that raised at least 150 billion rupees ($1.6 billion), surpassed only by Coal India with a 40% rise in 2010. The offering was fully subscribed in 100 minutes.

The Ambani family altered the deal structure, lowered valuation requests, attracted anchor investors, and engaged the empire's employees for promotion. The result reflected a familiar pattern: preparation, price flexibility, and the ability to close large deals in challenging conditions. "That's how the Ambanis operate," said Stephen Richard Evans, chairman of Red Lions Capital in Dubai.

The context makes the deal more notable: Indian stocks are heading for their first annual decline in 11 years, global funds have withdrawn record amounts, and several major IPOs in the country have stumbled. The timing echoes 2020, when at the height of the pandemic, Reliance conducted a rights issue of 530 billion rupees—the largest fundraising in India's history.

Reliance prepared the IPO for about five years and brought the company to market when the business began generating strong free cash flow, says Deven Choksey of DRChoksey FinServ. The final valuation of Jio was below some expectations, but this helped combine record fundraising with first-day growth. "The group also wanted to leave some profit for investors," Choksey said.

The deal was led by eldest son Akash—the first major test of the third generation of the dynasty. Mukesh Ambani assisted with Reliance's first offering at the age of 20.

Jio's market capitalization exceeded $130 billion, making the company the second most valuable public company in India and the fifth among telecom companies worldwide, slightly ahead of Deutsche Telekom. The question now is whether Akash can turn over 500 million subscribers into higher profits and cash flow by expanding into broadband, cloud computing, and AI.