The ₹30,213-crore initial public offering (IPO) of Jio Platforms was subscribed 3.01 times on the first day of bidding on Wednesday, driven by strong demand from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), whose portion was subscribed more than nine times.
The public issue of the digital services arm of Reliance Industries received bids for 59.49 crore shares against 19.75 crore shares on offer, according to exchange data.
The QIB category was subscribed 9.02 times, receiving bids for 44.22 crore shares against 4.90 crore shares reserved for the segment. Demand from non-institutional investors (NIIs) was also strong, with the category subscribed 1.59 times.
In comparison, the retail individual investor (RII) portion was subscribed 0.68 times. The employee reservation category was subscribed 1.30 times, while the shareholder reservation portion was subscribed 1.38 times.
In the QIB category, domestic financial institutions, including banks, financial institutions and insurance companies, bid for 25.02 crore shares, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) placed bids for 15.14 crore shares. Mutual funds bid for 3.19 crore shares, while other investors in the category bid for 86.71 lakh shares.
On the other hand, the NII category received bids for 5.78 crore shares against 3.64 crore shares reserved for the segment. Within this category, the portion for applications above ₹10 lakh was subscribed 1.73 times, while the segment for applications above ₹2 lakh and up to ₹10 lakh was subscribed 1.30 times.
Retail portion remains undersubscribed
Meanwhile, retail investors bid for 5.80 crore shares against 8.50 crore shares reserved for them, taking the subscription to 0.68 times. Of the bids received from retail investors, 5.29 crore shares were bid for at the cut-off price, while bids for 50.76 lakh shares came through price bids.
The employee reservation portion received bids for 60.94 lakh shares against 46.95 lakh shares reserved. The shareholder reservation category attracted bids for 3.08 crore shares against 2.23 crore shares available, taking its subscription to 1.38 times.
Jio Platforms is seeking to raise ₹30,213 crore through the IPO, making it India's largest public issue and surpassing Hyundai Motor India's ₹27,856-crore offering in 2024. The price band is ₹1,065–₹1,119 per share.
The three-day IPO will close on October 23, with the shares scheduled to list on October 28. The company has fixed the price band at ₹1,065-₹1,119 per share, valuing it at around ₹10.3 lakh crore.
The IPO is entirely a fresh issue of equity shares, with the proceeds primarily earmarked for debt repayment. Jio Platforms plans to use around ₹27,500 crore to repay or prepay, in full or in part, the outstanding borrowings of its telecom subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL). The remaining proceeds will be allocated to general corporate purposes, subject to a cap of 25% of the gross issue proceeds, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).
Ahead of the IPO opening, Jio Platforms raised ₹8,110 crore from anchor investors, attracting bids worth nearly ₹2.5 lakh crore, translating into demand of more than 30 times the amount on offer.