Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms initial public offering (IPO), valued at $3.2 billion, was fully subscribed within two hours of opening Wednesday, marking the country’s largest-ever share sale.
The 302.13 billion-rupee ($3.2 billion) offering was subscribed 1.15 times by 10.45 am local time (0515GMT), with bids for 227.1 million shares against 197.5 million available, Indian financial news outlet Moneycontrol reported.
Qualified institutional buyers subscribed 3.68 times their allotted portion, while retail investors subscribed 26% and non-institutional investors 29%.
The IPO, priced between 1,065 and 1,119 rupees ($11.27-$11.84) per share, values Jio at up to $108 billion. Subscriptions close Friday, with trading scheduled to begin Oct. 28.
Jio also raised approximately $853 million from anchor investors, including BlackRock and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ahead of the public offering.
Ambani, one of Asia’s wealthiest businessmen, chairs Reliance Industries, a conglomerate spanning energy, retail and telecommunications. He launched Jio’s telecom services in 2016, disrupting India’s mobile market with inexpensive data and free voice calls.
Backed by US technology giants Meta and Google, Jio has grown into India’s largest telecom operator, serving more than 500 million subscribers.