Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's children pitch India's biggest IPO to global investors

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's children have pitched Jio Platforms' planned 30,000 crore rupee initial public offering to investors in the Americas, Europe and Asia, ahead of what would be the biggest share sale in India's history.

Akash Ambani and his twin sister, Isha, met investors in person during international roadshows for the telecom and digital unit of Reliance Industries Ltd., the Economic Times reported on Oct. 10. Domestic roadshows with mutual funds and other institutions are now under way.

The offering, worth about $3.1 billion, would top Hyundai Motor India's 27,800 crore rupee IPO in October 2024, the current record. It would value Jio at up to 10.3 trillion rupees, or about $106 billion, according to the newspaper. Earlier reports had put the size of the offering at up to 37,800 crore rupees.

Some of Jio's existing foreign shareholders want to increase their holdings rather than sell, the Economic Times reported.

The timetable

The anchor book is set to open on Oct. 19, with the public offer running from Oct. 21 to Oct. 23 and trading expected to start on Oct. 28. An earlier Bloomberg report put the price range at 1,065 rupees to 1,119 rupees a share. Details could still change.

The sale is made up entirely of new shares, with no existing investor selling. The draft prospectus filed in June covered up to 270 million shares, or about 2.93% of the enlarged company. Proceeds are expected to go mainly toward paying down debt at Reliance Jio Infocomm, the group's mobile carrier. Reliance will keep about 66.4% of Jio after the listing.

Jio has appointed 19 banks to run the deal, including Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Citigroup. The company plans to price the shares to leave gains on the table for buyers and is courting retail investors.

Meta, Google and the 2020 fundraising

Jio's foreign backers date to 2020, when Ambani sold stakes worth more than $20 billion to Meta, Google and a string of global funds during the pandemic, helping Reliance cut its debt. Meta's affiliate Jaadhu Holdings is the largest outside investor with 9.98%, and Google International holds 7.73%. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, KKR, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, Mubadala, General Atlantic, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and TPG are also shareholders.

Jio is India's biggest mobile operator, with about 506 million mobile customers, a 39.29% share of the market.

The next generation

The IPO is the biggest test yet for Ambani's three children, whom he named to Reliance's board in 2023 as part of a succession plan. Akash, 34, chairs Reliance Jio Infocomm. Isha runs the group's retail arm, and their younger brother, Anant, oversees new energy.

Ambani, 69, took over Reliance after the death of his father, Dhirubhai Ambani, in 2002 and built it into India's most valuable company, with businesses spanning oil refining, petrochemicals, retail and telecommunications.