Jio Platforms IPO subscribed over 3 times; QIBs lead, retail book yet to fill

The initial public offering of Jio Platforms, Reliance Industries’ digital and telecom arm, drew strong demand from institutions on its opening day, Wednesday, 21 October. The issue was covered about three times by the end of day one, though the retail portion was yet to be fully booked going into Thursday.

According to Business Standard and Oneindia, the book was fully subscribed within roughly 100 minutes of opening, a pace that The Hans India called the fastest full subscription ever seen in India. The roughly Rs 30,213 crore issue is India’s biggest ever share sale and Reliance’s first IPO since 2006.

Subscription so far

Exchange data cited by The Hans India showed the public portion subscribed 3.01 times as of 5 pm on day one, with bids for about 59.44 crore shares against 19.75 crore on offer. The category-wise picture at that point:

• Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs): 9.02 times
• Non-institutional investors (NIIs): 1.58 times
• Retail investors: 0.68 times
• Employees: 1.30 times
• Reliance shareholders’ quota: 1.38 times

By 9:10 am on Thursday, 22 October, NSE data reported by Upstox put overall subscription at 3.21 times, with QIBs at 9.42 times, NIIs at 1.77 times and retail at 0.78 times. IPOWatch’s end-of-day tally for Wednesday was similar at 3.04 times overall. Figures will change through Thursday and Friday as bidding continues.

Public bids on day one were worth about Rs 66,500 crore at the upper end of the band, The Hans India reported. Domestic banks and insurers led the institutional book, followed by foreign institutional investors and mutual funds.

Price band, lot size and key dates

The price band is Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 per share, and bids can be made in lots of 12 shares. At the top of the band, one lot costs Rs 13,428. The offer is entirely a fresh issue of 27 crore shares, so no existing shareholder is selling. Employees get a discount of Rs 54 per share, and a separate quota is reserved for Reliance Industries shareholders, according to Chittorgarh.

• Issue closes: Friday, 23 October
• Basis of allotment: Monday, 26 October
• Refunds and credit of shares to demat accounts: Tuesday, 27 October
• Listing on NSE and BSE: Wednesday, 28 October (tentative)

Ahead of the opening, Jio Platforms raised Rs 8,109.85 crore from 212 anchor investors at Rs 1,119 a share on 19 October. Life Insurance Corporation was the largest anchor, and domestic mutual funds took about 34 per cent of the anchor book, Business Standard reported. Business Standard’s day-one figure of about Rs 22,078 crore on offer appears to exclude the anchor portion.

Valuation and use of funds

At the upper price band, the company’s post-issue market capitalisation is about Rs 10.3 lakh crore, or around $108 billion. Most of the proceeds will go towards repaying borrowings at subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm, with the remainder for general corporate purposes. Reliance Industries holds 66.4 per cent of Jio Platforms before the issue and will retain control after listing.

Aishvarya Dadheech of Fident Asset Management told Reuters the valuation looked “very reasonable”. Reliance did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Grey market premium figures circulating online are unofficial, and no reliable, attributed figure was available to this publication.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice. Readers should consult a SEBI-registered adviser before investing.

Sources

• Upstox: Jio Platforms IPO subscribed 3.21 times so far on Day 2
• Business Standard: Jio Platforms IPO fully subscribed in less than 100 minutes of opening
• The Hans India: Record 100-minute sellout, Jio Platforms IPO subscribed 3x
• Devdiscourse (Reuters): Ambani’s Jio IPO oversubscribed within hours in record Indian sale
• Oneindia: Jio Platforms IPO fully subscribed within minutes
• Chittorgarh: Jio Platforms IPO date, price, details
• IPOWatch: Jio Platforms IPO subscription status