Jio Platforms Ltd, the digital services arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, plans to begin marketing for its proposed initial public offering (IPO) of more than ₹30,000 crore next week, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The outreach will begin after the company announces its first-quarter earnings later today and ahead of formal domestic and global roadshows expected over the coming months once the draft papers receive regulatory approval, the people said, requesting anonymity because the discussions are private.
Jio Platforms filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on 19 June, kicking off the process for what could potentially become India's biggest IPO. The company is aiming to raise around ₹32,000-35,000 crore.
Representatives from Reliance Industries and Jio Platforms did not respond to Mint's requests for comments.
Soft marketing
Advisors handling the IPO are waiting for the company's latest quarterly financials before finalizing preliminary marketing materials for investors.
"After the earnings are announced, the plan is to begin the soft-marketing phase immediately with a set of large investors from next week. This will give an idea of the market appetite before formal roadshows begin," one of the people cited above said.
For offers of this scale, the company's underwriters usually begin informal meetings with potential investors long before official roadshows.
Investor appetite
"The appetite for large marquee issues is currently very strong in the market," the second person Mint spoke to said.
"SBI Funds (Management Ltd) closed with fantastic subscriptions. Manipal (Health Enterprises Ltd) is also seeing good investor interest in its roadshows. Jio should also find it easy to tap into this positive sentiment."
Both people cautioned that the timeline and valuation could still change depending on market conditions and internal decisions by the company's management.
Bloomberg News reported on 6 July that the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd is also preparing to begin marketing its proposed ₹30,000-crore IPO, with investor meetings planned globally.
IPO details
Jio has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital Co., Morgan Stanley India Co., BofA Securities India Ltd, Axis Capital Ltd, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt. Ltd and Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, among others, as book-running lead managers for the issue. The shares are proposed to be listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE, according to the draft papers.
The company plans to use up to ₹27,500 crore from the IPO funds raised to prepay certain borrowings availed by its material subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL).
Analysts at Morgan Stanley and Citi Research have pegged Jio Platforms’ valuation at around $133 billion, implying a 13 times multiple on its estimated 2026-27 enterprise value against its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda).
Currently, Reliance Industries Ltd holds a 66.43% stake in Jio Platforms, Meta Platforms 9.98% through affiliate Jaadhu Holdings LLC, and Google International LLC 7.73%. KKR & Co and Vista Equity Partners Management LLC hold another 2.31% in Jio Platforms each through affiliate funds. Silver Lake holds 1.88%, Mubadala Investment Co holds 1.85%, while General Atlantic and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority hold 1.34% and 1.16%, respectively. None of them are selling stake.