Jio Financial Services (JFS), a part of the conglomerate Reliance Industries led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is set to make its debut on stock exchanges on Monday, according to exchange circulars.
“Trading Members of the Exchange are hereby informed that effective from Monday, August 21, 2023, the equity shares of Jio Financial Services Ltd (formerly known as Reliance Strategic Investments Limited) shall be listed and admitted to dealings on the Exchange in the list of T Group of Securities,” the BSE said in a notice on Friday.
Reliance had last month spun off JFS, with the stock price set at a much higher-than-expected ₹261.85. This valuation placed JFS at approximately $20 billion during a special trading session.
JFS is part of major Indian indexes, including the benchmark Nifty 50. However, despite its presence, trading remains inaccessible until its listing and it will be removed at the end of its third day of listing, as per exchange rules.
All you need to know about Jio Financial Services:
1) Reliance Industries demerged its financial services operations, transferring them to RSIL (Reliance Strategic Investments Ltd). This entity was subsequently renamed as JFSL (Jio Financial Services Ltd). Shareholders got one JFSL share for each Reliance share they held.
2) JFSL will offer a broad range of financial services solutions and has plans to expand operations into insurance, digital payment and asset management verticals.
3) The spinoff, which will create the fifth-largest financier in terms of capital, positions JFS as a direct contender against prominent names like Paytm and Bajaj Finance. It is also expected to complement Reliance’s consumer businesses, which include India’s largest wireless operator with about 428 million users, a top retail chain with over 17,000 stores.
4) Some analysts expect JFS to debut at a premium. “There are many passive exchange-traded funds which have exposure to the Nifty and Sensex,” said Narendra Solanki, head of fundamental research for investment services at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers. “After three days, when JFS is scheduled to go out of these indexes, we could see some outflows,” Solanki added.
5) Last month, JFS announced a tie-up with Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, to float a mutual fund company. Analysts say JFS’ access to the vast trove of data from Reliance’s telecom and retail businesses will also give it a leg up in lending.
(With inputs from agencies)
