Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s $3.2 billion Jio IPO fully subscribed within two hours of opening

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms drew enough bids to cover its $3.2 billion initial public offering within about two hours of opening to the public on Wednesday, in what is India’s largest share sale on record.

The offer was fully subscribed less than two hours into public bidding, Reuters reported. Institutional investors had bid for about 3.25 times the shares set aside for them by then, while retail investors had applied for roughly a fifth of their quota.

Jio is selling shares at 1,065 to 1,119 rupees each, valuing the telecom and digital services company at up to $108.3 billion. Around a third of the offer is reserved for individual investors. Bidding closes on Friday, and the shares are due to start trading on Oct. 28.

The strong start follows heavy demand from large investors before the public offer opened. Jio allotted $853 million of shares to global and domestic investors, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and BlackRock, after bids for that portion topped $25 billion.

The early subscription outpaced other recent Indian listings. The National Stock Exchange’s share sale was 42% subscribed on its first day, and Hyundai Motor India’s offer was 18% covered on day one, Reuters said.

Jio is the first company from Ambani’s Reliance Industries to go public since 2006. Ambani first promised a listing in 2019, but the plans were delayed in 2025, and a planned filing in March was pushed back after the Iran war weakened demand for new listings.

The company is India’s largest mobile operator, with more than 500 million subscribers, and counts Meta Platforms and Google among its backers. Telecom services account for more than 90% of its revenue. In the year to March, Jio earned about $3.2 billion in profit on revenue of $15.5 billion.

Reliance paid its more than 400,000 employees about 15 days early this month and helped staff open share-trading accounts ahead of the offer, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Reuters.

The listing comes as Ambani is locked in a public dispute with Elon Musk over Starlink’s delayed entry into India. Musk has accused the Indian government and Ambani of stalling the satellite service’s launch, a claim both India and Reliance have rejected. Reliance said last week that it welcomes competition.

Ambani reclaimed the title of India’s richest person from Gautam Adani this month. A strong debut for Jio would add further to his fortune, as Reliance remains Jio’s controlling shareholder.