Billionaire Mukesh Ambani is looking to activate the vast workforce of Reliance Industrie Ltd. to drum up interest in the blockbuster initial public offering of his empire’s telecom and digital services arm Jio Platforms Ltd., even bringing forward some salaries to give employees access to investable cash.
The conglomerate has reached out to most of its nearly 420,000 employees across all group companies, encouraging them to consider investing in the $3.2 billion Jio Platforms IPO, according to people familiar with the matter. Reliance released October salaries about 15 days earlier than usual, which gives workers access to funds, the people said, asking not to be identified because the info is private. Staff were not told a reason for the early salary release.
The effort shows Ambani pulling out all the stops to make sure the Jio Platforms listing, which is on track to become the biggest ever in India, is a success. For a group that has spent years turning Jio Platforms into one of India’s largest digital businesses, the IPO is also an opportunity to turn hundreds of thousands of employees—and potentially their families—into shareholders.
Reliance Industries’ outreach has gone beyond simply informing staff about the offering. Teams have asked employees whether they or members of their families have the accounts required for electronic share trading, the people said. Those who don’t have been encouraged to open them, they added.
A representative for Reliance Industries didn’t immediately offer any comment.