Reliance Jio Platforms, the telecom and digital arm of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, is moving forward with its initial public offering (IPO), expected to be India's largest-ever. The company aims to raise between ₹40,000-50,000 crore (approximately $4-5 billion USD) through an offer for sale (OFS), meaning existing shareholders will sell their stakes rather than the company issuing new shares. This structure was also used by Hyundai Motor India in its IPO.
Investment bank Jefferies valued Reliance Jio Platforms at around $180 billion in November, suggesting that the planned IPO would involve a stake dilution of approximately 2.5-3.5%. This would potentially surpass Hyundai Motor India's $3.3 billion IPO in October 2024, which was previously the largest in India's history. Other significant Indian IPOs include Life Insurance Corporation of India (₹205 billion/~$2.45 billion), Paytm (₹183 billion), Tata Capital (₹155 billion), and LG Electronics India (₹116 billion).
The IPO is slated for the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. Reliance Jio has appointed a syndicate of 17 investment banks to manage the offering, including global firms like Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America, alongside domestic players like Axis Capital and ICICI Securities. The listing also follows recent government adjustments to public shareholding norms, allowing companies with a post-issue market capitalization over ₹5 lakh crore to dilute as little as 2.5% in an IPO, favoring large listings such as Jio's.
Jio Platforms has diversified beyond telecommunications into AI and other digital businesses, attracting investments from major players like KKR, General Atlantic, Silver Lake, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. These investors are anticipated to seek an exit through the IPO. Analysts, including JM Financial, suggest that the IPO timeline might encourage a 15% tariff hike in the telecom sector by late 2025 to strengthen Jio's earnings ahead of the listing, benefiting both Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel.
