Jio Platforms IPO: Anchor book attracts over ₹2.5 lakh crore in bids; LIC leads with ₹500 crore

Ahead of the opening of India’s largest-ever initial public offering (IPO) on October 21, Jio Platforms has received an overwhelming response from institutional investors, with bids for its anchor book exceeding ₹2.5 lakh crore, more than 30 times the amount on offer. The digital services arm of Reliance Industries has allotted shares worth ₹8,109.85 crore to 212 anchor investors at ₹1,119 apiece, the upper end of the price band.

The Reliance group company allotted 7.24 crore shares to anchor investors. The IPO is scheduled to close on October 23, with the shares set to make debut on the BSE and NSE on October 28.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was the biggest individual recipient in the anchor allocation, securing shares worth nearly ₹500 crore, as per the exchange data. New World Fund Inc received an allocation of ₹486.27 crore, followed by the Government of Singapore at ₹340.93 crore, SBI Focused Fund at ₹315 crore and BNP Paribas Financial Markets – ODI at ₹303.25 crore.

Mutual funds get 34.34% of anchor book

The data showed that domestic mutual funds were allotted 2.489 crore shares valued at ₹2,784.96 crore, accounting for 34.34% of the anchor book. The allocation was distributed across 95 schemes managed by 25 fund houses. Life insurance companies and pension funds received 97.4 lakh shares worth ₹1,089.95 crore, representing 13.44% of the total anchor allocation.

Both investor categories received a larger share than the minimum proportions specified in the red herring prospectus dated October 14. Mutual funds were earmarked 33.33% of the anchor portion, while insurers and pension funds had a reserved allocation of 6.67%.

The list of participating foreign investors includes BlackRock, Capital Group, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Schroders, JPMorgan Asset Management, Franklin Templeton and Janus Henderson. Sovereign and public investment institutions such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Monetary Authority of Singapore also participated in the anchor placement.

Some large domestic and overseas institutional investors sought allocations ranging from $750 million to more than $1 billion each, people familiar with the matter said.

Grey market premium rises ahead of IPO

The Jio Platforms IPO has also attracted attention in the unofficial grey market. Its grey market premium (GMP) climbed to ₹251, indicating a potential premium of 22.43% over the upper price band of ₹1,119, according to InvestorGain data. However, GMP is an unofficial measure of market sentiment and does not assure listing gains.

Jio Platforms intends to deploy approximately ₹27,500 crore from the IPO proceeds towards the repayment or prepayment of borrowings, either fully or partially, of its telecom subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL). The balance will be used for general corporate purposes, subject to a limit of 25% of the gross issue proceeds, according to the draft red herring prospectus.

The proposed debt reduction is expected to lower net debt and interest-related expenses, improve leverage ratios and provide the company with greater financial flexibility.

The strong response from institutional investors sets the stage for the country’s largest-ever public issue, with subscription trends among retail and other investors likely to provide a clearer picture of overall demand once the issue opens.