Jio Platforms IPO lures investors as bids surge on final day

Their reserved $854 million shares received bids of over $25 billion. The Jio Platforms IPO, India's largest ever, is being closely watched as a test of investor appetite for large listings at a time when AI-linked stocks are facing increased scrutiny. The company, whose mobile network serves more than 500 million users, is launching its IPO during the auspicious Hindu festive season. Jio Platforms IPO Subscription Status

The IPO values Jio Platforms at up to $108.3 billion, potentially making it one of India's biggest companies by market capitalisation when trading starts ​on 28 October. It counts Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google among its investors, and is led by Ambani's eldest son, Akash Ambani. The IPO got off to a rare start on Wednesday when it was fully subscribed within the first couple of hours. That contrasts with most Indian IPOs, where the books typically build gradually and institutional investors often wait until the final hours to place bids.

As of Friday, the Jio IPO’s retail portion was subscribed two times, the employee quota drew bids for 2.5 times the shares on offer and the existing Reliance shareholders quota was 5.7 times subscribed, exchange data showed. The Reliance Family Jio is part of Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd., a company often seen by Indian investors as a long-term wealth generator. Reliance shares have returned around 900% since 2006, beating the benchmark Nifty 50 index's 685% return, LSEG data shows.

Jio's telecom business was launched in 2016 and disrupted the market by offering free voice and data, hitting rivals Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Vodafone Idea Ltd. Today, on the ​basis of customers in a single country, Jio's 500 million-plus users are second only to China Mobile's. Reliance was founded by Akash's grandfather Dhirubhai Ambani, who died in 2002 after building the company's brand image with shareholders via large-scale meetings in Mumbai’s open grounds in the 1980s. On its website, it says the 1977 listing of the company created history by “ushering the equity cult in India”.