Jio Platforms plans $3 billion debt reduction from IPO proceeds

Jio Platforms Ltd. plans to use part of the proceeds from its proposed initial share sale to repay its telecom unit’s external commercial borrowings of almost $3 billion, a draft IPO document showed.

Jio, a crown jewel of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s oil-to-retail conglomerate, filed the draft documents on Friday for an IPO that includes the issuance of as many as 270 million new shares, kick-starting a long-awaited process of unlocking shareholder value.

While the draft document didn’t specify the potential size of IPO, it mentioned that 275 billion rupees ($2.9 billion) will be used for repaying existing loans while some funds could be used for general corporate purposes.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., its telecom unit, holds three so-called ECB facilities totaling 300.6 billion rupees in dollar and yen terms, the document showed. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Bank of America Corp., Barclays Bank Plc, BNP Paribas and Citibank are among lenders. The borrowings are proposed to be prepaid in full or in part from Jio Platforms’ IPO net proceeds, according to the draft document.

Such prepayments will help reduce net debt and associated servicing costs, Jio Platforms said in the draft herring prospectus.

“Additionally, the company believes that this would improve our ability to raise further resources in the future to fund potential business development opportunities,” it said.The deleveraging of the balance sheet will also position Jio Platforms favorably for continued investment in its strategic priorities, including 5G network densification and expansion, fixed broadband penetration, AI and cloud services, it said.