Jio to make trading debut after record $3.2 billion IPO

Mumbai, India will welcome Jio Platforms, the telecoms and digital unit founded by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, as it prepares to trade on Wednesday following a record $3.2 billion IPO. This offering attracted a staggering $77 billion in bids, making it India's most subscribed offering ever. With a potential valuation of up to $108.3 billion, Jio, which is backed by Meta and Alphabet's Google, currently serves over 530 million customers.

This listing marks a significant step towards transforming Reliance Industries, Ambani's parent conglomerate, from an oil-and-chemicals business into an 'everything company' encompassing consumer and technology sectors.

The ceremony to launch Jio will reportedly be attended by Akash Ambani, Ambani's eldest son and managing director. The anticipation surrounding the debut has been bolstered by the premium observed for Jio shares in the grey market, an unregulated platform for trading unlisted shares, which indicates a potential gain of about 22%. This market activity underscores the strong investor confidence in Jio's prospects.

India has emerged as the world's busiest IPO market this year, hosting 246 listings thus far, but it ranks fourth in terms of funds raised, amounting to $13.5 billion. While the valuation of $108.3 billion has been hailed as attractive by several brokerages, pointing to potential upside, they have also highlighted several risks. These include intense competition, significant capital expenditure, and evolving telecom regulations in the country, which include spectrum, licensing, and fee structures.