Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is aiming for a 2025 listing of his telecom giant, Reliance Jio, which is expected to be valued at over $100 billion. According to sources familiar with the plans, the IPO for Reliance Jio will occur before the company’s retail division, which will see its IPO delayed due to ongoing operational challenges.
Ambani has not provided an updated timeline for the IPOs since his 2019 statement that both Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail would be moving toward public listings within five years. Recently, he has successfully raised $25 billion from various investors, including KKR and General Atlantic, bolstering the valuations of both ventures.
With 479 million subscribers, Reliance Jio has established itself as India’s leading telecom player. As a result, the company believes it is ready for an IPO, aiming to make it India’s largest ever, surpassing Hyundai India’s recent record of $3.3 billion.
However, plans for a retail IPO are on hold until after 2025. The retail business has experienced rapid growth and diversification, which has led to some internal challenges, including losses in certain brick-and-mortar locations. Reliance wants to resolve these issues before pursuing a public listing for its retail unit, which operates India’s largest grocery store network with around 3,000 supermarkets.
There is no firm valuation set for Reliance Jio yet, and no bankers have been appointed for the IPO process. Analysts estimate the IPO could be valued around $112 billion. Moreover, the company is cautious about launching both Jio and retail IPOs simultaneously, as it could overwhelm the market.
As Indian stock markets reach new highs, the appetite for IPOs has surged. By October, 270 companies had raised $12.58 billion in 2024, already exceeding the total raised in 2023.
While Jio is poised to face competition from potential new entrants like Elon Musk’s Starlink, the company continues to innovate, partnering with tech giants like Google and Meta, and is working with Nvidia to develop AI infrastructure.
Overall, while the timeline for Reliance Jio’s IPO is firming up, the retail unit will require more time to stabilize before it can take the plunge into the public markets.
