Reliance Jio wants some investors to offload stakes before IPO
What's the story
Reliance Jio, owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is in talks with 13 prominent foreign investors to sell down 8% of their individual stakes. The move comes ahead of the company's upcoming initial public offering (IPO) in Mumbai. The list of potential investors includes tech giants Meta and Google, as well as Vista Equity Partners and KKR. Three Gulf sovereign funds, the Public Investment Fund, Mubadala, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are also on the list.
Filing specifics
Stake sale discussions are confidential
Reliance Jio Platforms, which operates the world's second-largest telecom company by users after China's China Mobile, is expected to file for its Mumbai IPO approval this week. The stake sale is likely to be around 8% for each investor involved in the process. However, it's important to note that these discussions are confidential and final numbers could still change.
Market implications
Potential stake sale by Meta and others
The stake sale, if it goes through as planned, would represent about 2.5% of Reliance Jio's total outstanding shares in the listing. The Reliance Jio IPO is being structured as an offer-for-sale, a common practice in India where no new funds are raised and existing shareholders offload stakes to public and other investors.
Valuation insights
Jio Platforms raised over $20.5B in 2020
In 2020, Jio Platforms had raised over $20.5 billion from stake sales to foreign investors. Investment bank Jefferies had estimated Reliance Jio's valuation at $180 billion in November. Sources told Reuters in January that the IPO could be worth as much as $4 billion, although the final numbers will only be decided later. Reliance Jio Platforms has appointed 17 banks to manage its Mumbai stock listing.