Reliance Jio Platforms IPO draws massive anchor bids exceeding 30 times available shares

Reliance Jio Platforms has drawn anchor bids exceeding $25 billion, or more than 30 times the shares on offer, ahead of its initial public offering. The company allotted shares worth over ₹8,100 crore to 212 anchor investors at the top end of its price band of ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 per share. The public issue aims to raise ₹30,213 crore through a fresh issue of up to 27 crore shares, valuing the firm at around $108 billion.

Allotment Details

Life Insurance Corporation of India received the largest allocation at ₹500 crore, making up 6.17% of the anchor book. New World Fund Inc secured shares worth ₹486.27 crore, followed by the Government of Singapore at ₹340.93 crore, SBI Focused Fund at ₹315 crore, and BNP Paribas Financial Markets at ₹303.25 crore. Domestic mutual funds took 34.34% of the anchor book worth ₹2,785 crore across 95 schemes, while life insurers and pension funds received 13.44% worth ₹1,090 crore. Global asset managers including BlackRock, Fidelity, Capital Group, and sovereign funds like the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority also participated.

Use of Proceeds

The company plans to use up to ₹27,500 crore of the IPO proceeds to repay or prepay borrowings at its telecom subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm, with the remainder going toward general corporate purposes. The public subscription opens on Wednesday, October 21, and closes on October 23, with stock market listing scheduled for October 28.

Context

Jio Platforms is India's largest mobile operator with over 500 million subscribers, driving significant revenue growth through data usage, fixed broadband, and emerging tech services. Large initial public offerings by major corporate groups often draw heavy institutional demand as major fund houses seek core holdings in market leaders.