India's Jio prepares for IPO in 2025

　　India's largest service provider, Reliance Jio Infocomm, is likely to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the coming year, according to a Reuters report (paywall applies). The telco, with around 479 million subscribers, is valued at over $100 billion, says the report.

　　Back in 2019, during Reliance Industries' 42nd annual general meeting, its chairman Mukesh Ambani said: "We will induct leading global partners in these businesses in the next few quarters, and move towards the listing of both these companies [Jio and Reliance Retail] within the next five years."

　　The Jio IPO is likely to be India's largest ever and may overtake Hyundai's $3.3 billion IPO from earlier this year, says the Reuters report, citing a source.

　　Reliance Industries holds 67% of Jio Platforms, the parent company of Reliance Jio, while private equity players hold the remaining stake. Several global investors, including Meta, Qualcomm, Google, Intel, General Atlantic, KKR and Silverlake, invested $20 billion in Jio Platforms in 2020 to get a 33% share in the company.

　　Jio has set up one of the world's largest 5G standalone (SA) networks. The company reported 148 million 5G subscribers in the quarter ending October 2024. It recently reported an 18% growth in revenue to touch 317.09 billion Indian rupees ($3.76 billion) in the September 2024 quarter. On the back of a tariff hike announced earlier this year, Jio's average revenue per user (ARPU) grew from INR181.70 ($2.15) in the June 2024 quarter to INR195.1 ($2.31) in the September 2024 quarter.

　　Jio was recently in the news for collaborating with artificial intelligence (AI) giant Nvidia, to develop AI infrastructure in the country. The company has developed an indigenous 5G stack, which it is trying to sell in the global market. Jio disrupted the Indian market by launching 4G services for free for the first six months in 2016 and later at much cheaper rates compared to other players.