Reliance plans to list Jio Platforms abroad

MUMBAI:After bagging multi-billion dollar deals from marquee investors in the last one month, billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will now be considering an overseas listing of Jio Platforms, said two people, requesting anonymity.

Jio Platforms houses RIL’s digital business assets, including

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, which in turn holds the Jio connectivity business—mobile, broadband and enterprise, besides others such as Jio Apps, tech backbone. It has also invested in other tech entities such as Haptic, Reverie, Fynd, NowFloats, Hathaway and Den Networks.

Over the past one month, Jio has raised $10.3 billion across five deals—a 9.99% stake to Facebook for $5.7 billion; 1.2% to Silver Lake for $750 million; 2.3% to Vista Equity Partners for $1.5 billion, 1.34% to General Atlantic for $870 million, and a 2.32% stake in KKR for $1.5 billion.

The enterprise value of Jio Platforms has reached ₹5.15 lakh crore within six months of its launch, making it comparable with global platforms, such as Alphabet, Tencent, and Alibaba, which are largely debt-free and have large digital ecosystems.

“RIL may look for a simultaneous listing of Jio Platforms. However, this would happen only after market sentiments, domestic and global, improve. An overseas listing will give the private equity investors a better exit,” said a banker.

Last August, Ambani had said that he was aiming to list RIL’s consumer businesses, Jio, and Retail in the next five years.