Jio IPO demand tops 30 times as global funds bid

Jio Platforms Ltd.'s 8,110-crore rupee anchor book drew bids exceeding 2.5 lakh crore rupees ahead of its proposed IPO, people familiar with the development said on Oct. 19.

The demand was more than 30 times the amount on offer, giving Reliance Industries Ltd. a test of institutional appetite for direct exposure to Jio's telecom and digital services business.

They said it is the first Indian IPO

People familiar with the development said the book includes bids from global asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, domestic mutual funds, insurers and pension funds. They said it is the first Indian IPO to draw institutional bids of this size.

The list of interested investors includes BlackRock, Capital Group, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, Schroders, JPMorgan Asset Management, Franklin Templeton, Invesco and Janus Henderson, the people said. Sovereign wealth funds including GIC, Norges Bank Investment Management, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Qatar Investment Authority also expressed interest, they said.

“The issue has attracted several billion-dollar bids,” one person familiar with the development said, requesting anonymity because the details were not public.

Domestic institutions in the reported book include SBI

Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Nippon India Mutual Fund and Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund. Life Insurance Corporation of India, HDFC Life, SBI Life, SBI Pension, HDFC Pension and ICICI Prudential were also among reported participants.

If the demand carries into the formal listing process, Jio would give public-market investors a separate route into mobile connectivity, broadband, cloud, entertainment and enterprise services now held through Reliance Industries. The next catalyst is the company's release of further IPO terms after Oct. 19.