By Rajesh Mascarenhas and Anto Antony
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani is looking to activate the vast workforce of Reliance Industries Ltd. to drum up interest in the blockbuster initial public offering of his empire’s telecom and digital services arm Jio Platforms Ltd., even bringing forward some salaries to give employees access to investable cash.
The conglomerate has reached out to most of its nearly 420,000 employees across all group companies, encouraging them to consider investing in the $3.2 billion IPO, according to people familiar with the matter. Reliance released October salaries about 15 days earlier than usual, which gives workers access to funds, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Staff were not told a reason for the early salary release.
The effort shows Ambani pulling out all the stops to make sure the listing, which is on track to become the biggest ever in India, is a success. For a group that has spent years turning Jio into one of India’s largest digital businesses, the IPO is also an opportunity to turn hundreds of thousands of employees — and potentially their families — into shareholders.
Reliance’s outreach has gone beyond simply informing staff about the offering. Teams have asked employees whether they or members of their families have the accounts required for electronic share trading, the people said. Those who don’t have been encouraged to open them, they added.
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A representative for Reliance Industries didn’t immediately offer any comment.
Reliance Industries has 419,911 employees, the second-biggest workforce among India’s listed companies, behind Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
That includes 74,822 at Jio, according to its website. They can apply through the employee quota, while other Reliance workers can bid in the retail category. Employees who are also the parent company’s shareholders can bid through a portion reserved for such investors, the people said.
Jio is aiming for a valuation of up to ₹10.3 trillion ($108 billion) as it’s looking to raise as much as ₹30,200 crore in the IPO, offering as many as 270 million shares at ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 each. It has set aside as much as ₹500 crore of shares for eligible employees, who are being offered a discount of 5%, company filings show. The IPO also includes a reservation of as much as ₹2,500 crore worth of shares for eligible Reliance Industries shareholders, according to the documents.
The IPO is scheduled to open for subscription on Oct. 21 and close Oct. 23, with the anchor book opening Oct. 19. Jio has drawn more than $20 billion in bids and global investors including Fidelity Management & Research, Allianz SE and Capital Group have indicated interest, people familiar with the matter have said.