Jio gains 21% after $3.2 billion stock market debut
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Techcrunch
Jio Platforms, the Indian telecommunications and digital services company, gained 21% in its stock market debut after raising $3.2 billion. The offering, 22.19 times oversubscribed and valuing Jio at about $131.9 billion, was India's largest initial public offering, according to market data cited by TechCrunch.
Jio Platforms, the Indian telecommunications and digital services arm of Reliance Industries, surged 21% on Wednesday in its stock market debut after raising $3.2 billion. The listing, the largest ever in India, attracted more than $77 billion in investor demand, according to TechCrunch.
The shares opened at 1,358 rupees, compared with an issue price of 1,119 rupees, valuing Jio at about 12.5 trillion rupees, or $131.9 billion. This market capitalisation makes the company India's second-largest listed company, behind its parent Reliance Industries. The offering, held on 21 and 22 October, was 22.19 times oversubscribed and received applications from more than 13.8 million investors, a national record.
Jio, which has more than 540 million customers, has expanded since entering the Indian market in 2016 into broadband, cloud services and artificial intelligence. Its chief executive, Akash Ambani, wants to turn it into a global technology company. Up to 275 billion rupees, or about $2.9 billion, is to be used to repay the debt of its telecommunications subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm, according to TechCrunch.
