Shares of Jio Platforms surged 21.4% on their trading debut Wednesday, following a record initial public offering that attracted strong interest from both retail and institutional investors. The Indian telecom and digital services giant raised 302 billion rupees ($3.2 billion) by offering 270 million shares at 1,119 rupees each, marking the country's largest-ever IPO.
The public issue was oversubscribed more than 22 times, with institutional investors leading the demand. The qualified institutional portion was subscribed 70.55 times, while retail investors subscribed 2.72 times. The IPO was fully subscribed within 95 minutes of its opening on Oct. 21, according to Akash Ambani, managing director of Jio Platforms and heir of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
Global brokerage Nomura gave Jio Platforms a buy rating, setting a target price of 1,340 rupees, which implies a 19.7% upside to its IPO price. The brokerage noted that Jio's capital expenditure cycle is largely over and expects a sharp improvement in the company's free cash flow. Shares were last trading at 1,357 rupees.
Reliance Industries, the flagship company of Mukesh Ambani, owns more than a 66% stake in Jio Platforms. Other major shareholders include Meta Platforms' affiliate Jaadhu Holdings with nearly 10% and Google International with 7.7%, as per LSEG data.