Exclusive-Ambani's Reliance Jio delays India IPO beyond this year, sources say
Valued by analysts at more than $100 billion, Jio wants to achieve higher revenue and a bigger subscriber base for its telecoms business while expanding its other digital offerings to boost its valuation before an initial public offering, one of the sources said.
Shares of parent conglomerate Reliance Industries fell sharply in Mumbai after the Reuters report, losing as much as 1.8 per cent, or $6 billion in market value. Reliance closed 1.2 per cent down, with its significant weighting in other indexes dragging the broader Indian market into negative territory.
Nearly 80 per cent of Jio Platforms' latest annual revenue of $17.6 billion came from its telecoms business - Reliance Jio Infocomm, India's biggest player. But Ambani is also accelerating expansion of his other niche digital businesses focused on developing apps, connected devices and AI business solutions.
Reliance Jio is also set to lock horns with Elon Musk, who is expected to launch the Starlink internet service in India in the coming months. Jio, which counts Google and Meta among investors, has also partnered Nvidia to develop AI infrastructure.
Ambani said in 2019 that Jio and Reliance Retail will move towards listings within five years. And last year Reuters reported that Reliance was targeting a 2025 Mumbai listing for Jio Platforms, aiming for it to be India's biggest IPO.
"Jio (IPO) is not going to happen this year, it's just not possible. The company wants the business to be more mature," the first source said.
Both the sources, who declined to be identified because the strategy is confidential, said Reliance had yet to appoint bankers to discuss a potential stock market offering.
Reliance did not respond to Reuters queries on the matter.
Jio Infocomm has faced some churn in its subscriber base after price increases but has returned to growth this year and has more than 488 million subscribers.
Indian brokerage IIFL Capital said in April that it was cutting its 2025-26 core profit estimate for Jio by 3 per cent, citing higher costs and the expected increase in prices, probably in late 2025. It also cut its valuation estimate from $117 billion to $111 billion, though Jefferies values the business at $136 billion.
The first source declined to share the valuation that Jio had been targeting for the proposed IPO but said it was "easily above $100 billion".
India's IPO market had its best year in 2024, with $20.5 billion raised, second only to the United States.
Trade wars and Middle East tension have turned market sentiment jittery, but it is recovering. India is the world's second-biggest IPO market with $5.86 billion raised by June this year, accounting for the 12 per cent of total proceeds globally, LSEG data shows.
Reuters has previously reported that the Reliance Retail IPO was being delayed for the company to address operational challenges at the company that runs India's biggest grocery store network of 3,000 supermarkets.
The Reliance Retail IPO is unlikely before 2027 or 2028, the first source added without elaborating.
Reliance Retail and Jio have powered the parent's earnings in the six months to March while its energy segment has been hit by lower margins and weaker demand.
Ambani, Asia's richest man, has raised $25 billion collectively for digital, telecoms and retail businesses from the likes of KKR, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, General Atlantic and Silver Lake in recent years.
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