Brokerage firm Jefferies also suggested that Jio might debut with a valuation around $112 billion
Indian telecommunications firm Reliance Jio Infocomm is exploring the possibility of a major initial public offering (IPO) in 2025, Indian newspaper Business Standard reported, citing a note by investment company Jefferies.
The brokerage firm also suggested that Jio might debut with a valuation around $112 billion, potentially contributing a 7-5% increase in the share price of its parent company, Reliance Industries.
“Jio leading the way in the recent tariff hikes unlike in the past while keeping feature phone tariffs unchanged shows focus on monetization and subscriber market share gains. These moves create a case for a possible public listing in calendar year 2025 in our view,” Jefferies stated.
Jefferies also suggested that the IPO could consist of an offer for sale by minority shareholders. It speculated that Reliance Industries might consider spinning off Reliance Jio Infocomm and listing it separately post-price discovery, according to the report.
Last month, Reliance Jio Infocomm announced a new range of mobile tariff plans offering unlimited data, with the main aim of boosting monetization and expand its subscriber base. Rival operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea also announced revised tariffs plans after the initial move by Jio.
In April, Reliance Jio Infocomm said it had rolled out its 5G network across India, with over 108 million subscribers in the country.
The telco noted that Jio’s True 5G network now carries nearly 28% of Jio’s wireless data traffic.
Meanwhile, the company’s 5G FWA offering, JioAirFiber, is now being offered across nearly 5,900 towns and cities across India, Jio said.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has been rapidly expanding its 5G network using Standalone (SA) architecture since October 2022. Meanwhile, rival operator Bharti Airtel previously said it was on track to cover the entire country with 5G technology by March 2024.
Last month, India concluded a delayed 5G spectrum auction, raising a total of INR113.4 billion ($1.3 billion), as the country’s three main carriers spent a fraction of the sums they previously spent in the previous 5G spectrum auction.
The Indian government confirmed it sold a total of 141 megahertz of spectrum across eight bands, including 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz.
Bharti Airtel was the top bidder in the auction. The carrier spent a total of INR68.6 billion to acquire 97 megahertz of spectrum, followed by Vodafone Idea which acquired frequencies for a total of INR 35.1 billion and Reliance Jio Infocomm, who spent nearly INR10 billion to secure additional 5G frequencies.
India had completed its first 5G spectrum auction in July 2022. Reliance Jio walked away with the most spectrum, having spent $11 billion. Airtel won spectrum worth $5.4 billion, while Vodafone received spectrum worth $2.4 billion. Finally, Adani purchased spectrum worth approximately $27 million, which it will use to offer private 5G network services.