Jio Platforms Ltd.'s $3.1 billion initial public offering drew strong demand, particularly from institutional investors, as India's biggest-ever share sale defied the drag of a weeklong selloff in Indian equities.
The offering was subscribed nearly 20 times as bidding closed on Friday, with qualified institutional buyers leading demand. They bid for 61 times the shares reserved for them, according to data on BSE Ltd.'s website. The non-institutional category, which includes wealthy investors, was subscribed 14 times, while the retail portion was covered 2.7 times. The offering was fully sold within 100 minutes despite a bruising week for local equities. That sets up a challenging debut for Jio on Oct. 28.
India's biggest listings have often stumbled on their first day. The four deals of at least $2 billion this decade posted a weighted-average decline of 9.9%, with only one, National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., gaining on debut last month. Among record-setting recent deals, One 97 Communications Ltd., operator of digital payments provider Paytm, plunged 27% on its first day in 2021, while Hyundai Motor India Ltd. dropped 7.2% in 2024.
Jio's IPO values billionaire Mukesh Ambani's digital and telecom business at about $107 billion at the top of the marketed range of 1,065 rupees to 1,119 rupees a share. The offering received more than 10 million applications, surpassing the previous reported record of about 9.7 million for Waaree Energies Ltd.'s offering in 2024. Even so, Jio's overall subscription trailed some other large Indian IPOs, including LG Electronics Inc.'s $1.3 billion offering of its local unit, which was subscribed about 54 times last year.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing