India's Jio Platforms targets $106 billion valuation in IPO, sources say

Business Recorder, citing Reuters, reported that Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms is aiming for an IPO valuation of 10.3 trillion Indian rupees, roughly $106 billion, according to four bankers involved in the deal. The shares would be priced between 1,065 and 1,119 rupees each, and at the top of that range the offering would raise about 302 billion rupees, or $3.1 billion. That amount would exceed the $2.9 billion Hyundai Motor India issue from 2024.

The valuation is lower than the $131 billion anticipated back in June, when the company filed its draft offering documents. Analysts attributed the lower pricing to a wider slump in secondary markets, which they said stemmed from crude prices surging amid the Iran war. India's Nifty 50 has fallen around 6 per cent in nearly four months since June.

Led by Akash Ambani, the son of Mukesh Ambani, Jio runs Reliance's telecom and digital businesses, and Meta and Google are among its prominent overseas investors. Of the net proceeds, up to 275 billion rupees will go toward repaying or prepaying borrowings at Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom subsidiary. The telecom arm reported 524.4 million customers as of March. Revenue from operations for the year ended March climbed 14.6 per cent to 1.47 trillion rupees, while profit grew 15.1 per cent to 300.5 billion rupees.