According to two sources with knowledge of the situation, billionaire Mukesh Ambani intends to undertake the initial public offering (IPO) of his retail division much later and hopes to list his telecom company Jio, which experts estimate is worth over $100 billion, in Mumbai in 2025.
After declaring in 2019 that Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail will “move towards” a listing within five years, Ambani, the CEO of Reliance Industries, has not revised his IPO timeframes.
The richest man in Asia, Ambani, has raised $25 billion in recent years from companies including KKR, General Atlantic, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for digital, telecom, and retail operations. The ventures are valued at over $100 billion.
According to the two sources, Reliance has now solidified its plans to go public with the Reliance Jio IPO in 2025 since it internally feels it has established a steady revenue stream and business model in becoming the leading telecom company in India with 479 million members.
According to the first source, however, the retail company’s initial public offering (IPO) is not anticipated until after 2025 since it must first resolve some internal business and operational issues.
A request for comment from the oil-to-retail behemoth Reliance Industries was not answered.
If Elon Musk introduces his Starlink internet service in India, Jio, which is also supported by Google and Meta, will face off against him. Jio has teamed up with Nvidia to create AI infrastructure.
According to the sources, bankers have not yet been hired and there has not yet been an internal decision regarding Reliance Jio’s value; however, in July, Jefferies estimated the company’s IPO price at $112 billion.
However, according to the first source, Reliance wants the 2025 Jio IPO to surpass Hyundai India’s record $3.3 billion IPO this year and become the largest in India’s history.
The IPO timelines are still subject to change, according to both sources, who asked not to be identified since the talks are confidential.
By October, 270 firms had raised $12.58 billion from Indian initial public offerings (IPOs) this year, surpassing the $7.42 billion raised in 2023, as Indian markets recently reached all-time highs.
The need for retail fixes
According to these sources, Reliance is now considering not listing the retail division in the same year as Jio since it does not want to launch two significant initial public offerings (IPOs) at the same time.
More importantly, the first source stated that before pursuing an IPO, Reliance internally wishes to address “operational issues” at the retail division, which operates the largest grocery store network in India, consisting of 3,000 stores.
According to the person, the business has expanded “too fast” and into a number of retail formats, including e-commerce. Additionally, some of its physical stores have experienced years of deficits, resulting in less than optimal profits per square foot of space.
The empire of Reliance Retail consists of food, fashion, and electronics stores. In recent years, the company has entered the e-commerce market to compete with Amazon. In order to capitalize on the recent surge in quick commerce—a new shopping fad in which items are delivered in ten minutes—it is now branching out into speedier deliveries.
As competition from rapid commerce startups is seen eating away at its share of grocery sales, it announced a 1.1% year-over-year drop in sales from July to September, its first quarterly sales dip in at least three years.
The company, which has agreements with companies including Jimmy Choo, Marks & Spencer, and Pret A Manger in India and owns the toy store Hamleys, was valued at $112 billion by Bernstein last year.
Foreign investors now own 33% of Jio Platforms, which contains the telecom and digital companies, after the company raised $17.84 billion in previous years. During that time, Reliance Retail raised $7.44 billion by selling foreign investors about 12% of the company.
