Reliance Taps 420,000 Workers for Jio IPO

Mukesh Ambani is encouraging Reliance Industries employees to consider investing in Jio Platforms’ $3.2 billion IPO. The company also released October salaries about 15 days earlier than usual. Employees weren’t told why they received their pay early, according to people familiar with the matter. The outreach could turn employees and their families into investors in the telecom and digital services arm as it seeks to raise money through the public offering.

Workers as potential investors

The effort reached most of Reliance’s nearly 420,000 employees across its group companies. Teams asked employees whether they or family members had electronic share-trading accounts, and encouraged those without accounts to open them. That could broaden the pool of potential applicants beyond Jio’s own workforce.

Reliance Industries had 419,911 employees as of June 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It ranked second among India’s listed companies by workforce, behind Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. The total includes 74,822 Jio employees, according to Jio’s website.

The workers don’t all qualify for the same share categories. Jio employees can apply through the employee quota, while other Reliance workers can bid in the retail category. Reliance employees who also hold shares in the parent company can bid through a portion reserved for those investors.

Company filings set aside up to ₹500 crore worth of shares for eligible employees, who get a 5% discount. Up to ₹2,500 crore worth of shares are reserved for eligible Reliance Industries shareholders. So the workforce outreach runs alongside separate allocation channels for employees, retail applicants and existing parent-company shareholders.

The size of the offering

Jio is targeting a valuation of up to ₹10.3 lakh crore, or $108 billion, and aims to raise as much as ₹30,200 crore. It plans to offer up to 270 million shares at prices ranging from ₹1,065 to ₹1,119 each. The employee allocation forms part of that offering, and the discount applies to eligible employees.

The IPO is scheduled to open for subscription on October 21 and close on October 23. The anchor book is scheduled to open on October 19. Jio has drawn more than $20 billion in bids, according to the article. People familiar with the matter said global investors including Fidelity Management & Research, Allianz SE and Capital Group have indicated interest.

What the account reports

Reliance Industries didn’t immediately comment. People familiar with the early salary payments asked not to be identified because the information is private. The account describes the employee outreach and share allocations, but reports no union response, strike or other organized labor action. It describes no government action or reform proposal connected to the offering, either.

For employees, the reported invitation is to participate as potential investors through designated IPO categories. For Jio, the offering seeks as much as ₹30,200 crore and carries a target valuation of up to $108 billion. The article gives no details about whether employees will invest, how many will apply, or how the offering will affect their employment.