Jio Platforms made a strong stock-market debut on Wednesday, opening 21% above its issue price even as the Sensex fell more than 1%. The key test now is whether the issuer of India's largest initial public offering (IPO) to date can hold that premium through the close, unlike India’s five largest previous debuts.
A Mint analysis shows that none of those five predecessors gained more than 2% on day one, and three ended below their offer prices. And of the 19 largest issues before Jio's, 12 ended their first session above their offer prices and seven below. Their median debut-day gain was 6.3%.
The opening premium was broadly in line with grey market expectations. Ahead of Wednesday’s listing, Jio commanded a grey market premium of ₹251, or 22.4% above its ₹1,119 issue price, according to InvestorGain, implying an unofficial listing price of ₹1,370.
Among previous mega-offers, Reliance Power opened 21.7% above its ₹450 offer price but closed at 17.2% discount. Coal India moved the other way, widening its opening premium of 17.4% to a closing gain of 39.7%. Zomato’s premium expanded from 51.3% to 65.6%.
“Jio’s market leadership, scale, and opportunities across telecom and digital services should support investor interest. But a strong listing will ultimately rest on valuation comfort and continued buying in the secondary market, not on subscription figures alone,” said Ratiraj Tibrewal, CEO of Choice Capital Advisor.