Jio, NSE IPOs near launch: Which shareholders stand to gain most?

Who stands to make the biggest gains when India's two most anticipated IPOs finally hit the market?

Two of India's most anticipated public offerings are moving closer to the stock market, but the shareholders poised to benefit from them are very different.

 

Jio Platforms, the digital and telecom arm backed by Reliance Industries, has filed draft papers for a fresh issue of shares, while the National Stock Exchange's proposed listing is structured as an offer-for-sale (OFS), which would allow its existing shareholders to sell part of their holdings.

 

The distinction matters because the proceeds from Jio's issue will go to the company, whereas money raised through NSE's OFS will flow to the shareholders selling their stakes. As a result, the biggest beneficiaries of the two listings are likely to emerge from different corners of India's corporate and financial landscape.

Jio: Reliance and global technology investors remain key beneficiaries

Jio Platforms has proposed a fresh issue of up to 270 million equity shares. Since no existing shareholder is selling stock as part of the issue, current investors will continue to hold the same number of shares after listing, although their ownership percentages will be diluted because of the increase in total share capital.

 

Reliance Industries, which controls Jio Platforms, remains the company's largest shareholder by a wide margin. Based on the shareholding disclosed in the draft prospectus and assuming the full fresh issue is subscribed, Reliance's stake would decline modestly while retaining majority control. 

Major Jio shareholders
Shareholder	Pre-Issue Shares	Pre-Issue Holding	Indicative Post-Issue Holding*
Reliance Industries Ltd	5,937,841,645	66.43%	64.48%
Jaadhu Holdings LLC (Meta affiliate)	892,275,913	9.98%	9.69%
Google International LLC	690,854,775	7.73%	7.50%
Public Investment Fund	206,931,899	2.31%	2.25%
Omicron Asia Holdings II (KKR affiliate)	206,931,899	2.31%	2.25%
VEPF VII AIV I Ltd (Vista affiliate)	206,931,899	2.31%	2.25%
SLP Redwood Holdings (Silver Lake affiliate)	168,489,206	1.88%	1.83%
MIC Redwood 1 RSC (Mubadala subsidiary)	165,545,519	1.85%	1.80%
General Atlantic Singapore JP Pte Ltd	120,120,900	1.34%	1.30%
Platinum Jasmine A 2018 Trust (ADIA-linked)	103,465,950	1.16%	1.12%
India Markets Pte Ltd (TPG-managed)	82,772,760	0.93%	0.90%

*Assumes issuance of the full 270 million shares proposed in the draft prospectus.

 

The table showcases the roster of global investors that backed Jio during its 2020 fundraising exercise. Alongside Reliance, Meta, Google, sovereign wealth funds from the West Asis and several private equity firms remain among the largest shareholders expected to benefit from the company's eventual market listing.

 

The Nahata family's little-known link to Jio's shareholding history

The draft prospectus does not disclose any direct equity holding in Jio Platforms by members of the Ambani family. It does, however, identify several individuals linked to telecom entrepreneur Mahendra Nahata in the company's capital history.

 

The DRHP states that Anant Nahata, son of Mahendra Nahata, received 10.08 million shares through compulsorily convertible debenture (CCD) conversions and an additional 2.95 million shares through transfers from Reliance Industries in July 2020. Manju Nahata, wife of Mahendra Nahata, received 6.08 million shares through CCD conversions and 1.78 million shares through transfers, while Priyanka Sanghi, daughter of Mahendra Nahata, received 1.53 million shares through CCD conversions and 448,195 shares through transfers.

 

The names appear in the company's capital history and are distinct from the current shareholder table disclosed in the draft prospectus. The document does not disclose whether these individuals continue to hold the shares. However, brokerage estimates cited in media reports suggest that, if the holdings remain unchanged, the historical allotments could be worth several thousand crore rupees at the valuation implied by the proposed IPO.

 

Individual shareholders disclosed in the DRHP
Individual	Category	Shares Held
Pankaj Mohan Pawar	KMP	90,000
Mathew Oommen	KMP	90,000
Saurabh Sancheti	KMP	40,000
Aayush Bhatnagar	Senior Management	90,000
Anshuman Thakur	Senior Management	90,000
Arvind Tiwari	Senior Management	60,000
Ashish Lodha	Senior Management	90,000
Rahul Mukherjee	Senior Management	40,000
Shyam Prabhakar Mardikar	Senior Management	60,000
Uday Shashikant Parulekar	Senior Management	40,000

Mahendra Nahata, founder and managing director of HFCL, has longstanding links with Reliance's telecom venture. In 2010, Infotel Broadband Services, a company backed by Nahata, emerged as the sole bidder to secure pan-India broadband wireless access spectrum. Reliance Industries subsequently acquired a 95 per cent stake in Infotel for ₹4,800 crore, creating the foundation for what later became Reliance Jio Infocomm.

 

Nahata later joined the board of Reliance Jio, and HFCL went on to become a supplier and infrastructure partner to the telecom operator.

NSE: Long-term investors could finally unlock value

The proposed NSE listing tells a different story.

 

Unlike Jio's fresh issue, the exchange's IPO is structured as an offer-for-sale. That means NSE itself is not expected to raise fresh capital. Instead, existing shareholders will have an opportunity to monetise part of their holdings through the public offering.

 

For many investors, the listing could mark the culmination of a holding period stretching several years.

 

LIC emerges as NSE's largest shareholder in the draft prospectus, holding 61.9 million shares, or 12.5 per cent, followed by SBI with 25.7 million shares, or 5.2 per cent.

NSE's largest shareholders poised to benefit from listing
Shareholder	Shares Held	Holding (%)	Investor Type	Why It Matters
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)	61,913,500	12.50%	Insurer	Largest shareholder disclosed in DRHP
State Bank of India (SBI)	25,712,500	5.20%	Bank	Largest banking shareholder
Aranda Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd	24,750,000	5.00%	Investment vehicle	Foreign institutional investor
Gagil FDI Ltd	24,750,000	5.00%	FDI investor	Among largest foreign shareholders
SAIF II-SE Investments Mauritius Ltd	24,750,000	5.00%	PE/VC investor	Early institutional investor
Veracity Investments Ltd	24,750,000	5.00%	Investment vehicle	Significant shareholder
Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd	22,000,000	4.40%	Financial institution	Long-term domestic investor
SBI Capital Markets Ltd	21,450,000	4.30%	Investment bank	SBI group entity
IFCI Ltd	15,100,250	3.10%	Development finance institution	Early institutional shareholder
GS Strategic Investments Ltd	14,850,000	3.00%	Investment vehicle	Significant shareholder

  Exact shareholding figures and proposed sale details will determine the extent of gains for individual investors, but unlike Jio, the value created through the listing will largely accrue to shareholders selling stock rather than to the exchange itself. 

Two IPOs, two different outcomes

While both offerings are among the most closely watched capital market events in India, they serve different purposes.

 

Jio's issue is designed to raise fresh capital and broaden ownership of a company that sits at the centre of Reliance's digital strategy. NSE's proposed listing, by contrast, offers a route for long-standing investors to unlock value from a business that has remained unlisted despite its dominant position in India's equity markets.

 

For Reliance and Jio's global technology investors, the listing could crystallise gains from one of India's largest digital businesses. For NSE's institutional shareholders, it may finally provide a long-awaited liquidity event after years of holding shares in the country's largest stock exchange.