MUMBAI: Telecom behemoth Jio Platforms Ltd's Rs30,213-crore initial public offering (IPO) was fully subscribed within 100 minutes of opening on Wednesday, making it the fastest among India's mega-issues to attract bids for all shares on offer. Institutional investors led the early rush for the country's largest-ever IPO.
The issue had received bids for 28.31 crore shares against 19.75 crore shares on offer as of 12:33 p.m., translating into an overall subscription of 1.43 times, according to exchange data. The issue will remain open until October 23.
Demand was heavily skewed towards qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), whose reserved portion was subscribed 4.13 times, with bids for 20.23 crore shares against 4.90 crore shares on offer.
Domestic financial institutions (DFIs), including banks and insurers, bid for 13.40 crore shares, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sought 5.94 crore shares.
institutional response
The strong institutional response came despite the issue being priced at the upper end of the indicated price band, underscoring investor appetite for Jio's growth prospects and its dominant position in India's telecom and digital services market.
The IPO marks a major test of investor appetite for large new-age businesses and could set the tone for the primary market after a period of strong activity in India's equity markets. Its size also means that the issue is likely to have a significant impact on overall IPO fundraising this year.
The strong opening subscription also gives Jio Platforms considerable headroom for the remaining two days of the issue, with retail investors and non-institutional investors yet to make their full impact on the subscription figures.
