Jio Financial seeks shareholders approval for up to 49% foreign equity investments

Jio Financial, the financial arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) has sought shareholders' approval for foreign investments up to 49% through the equity route.

The e-voting period for the shareholders will start on May 24 and end on June 22.
Jio Financial is majority-owned by public shareholders with a 52.88% stake, while promoters own the rest 47.12%.


Among the public shareholders, foreign investors own about 19% stake in the company and mutual funds are holding 4.74%, according to the latest shareholding data available with the exchanges.

The other agendas that will be up for voting include the appointment of Rama Vedashree as an Independent Director of the company, the alteration of the objects clause of the Memorandum of Association, and material-related party transactions of subsidiaries.

Jio Financial is the financial services subsidiary of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries which recently underwent a demerger to be listed as a separate entity. It got listed on the exchanges in August last year and has delivered a healthy 72% return to the investors since then. On a year-to-date basis, the stock is up around 58%.

In the recent fourth quarter, Jio Financial reported a 6% sequential growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 311 crore. Consolidated revenue from operations was flat at Rs 418 crore against Rs 414 crore in the previous quarter.

Last month, the firm announced that it signed an agreement with the asset management firm BlackRock, Inc for the launch of a wealth management and broking business. Under the joint venture (JV), both partners intend to invest $150 million each.

The JV could potentially strengthen the JFSL relationship with Blackrock, with whom it had announced a 50:50 joint venture in July 2023 to transform India’s asset management industry through a digital-first offering and democratize access to investment solutions for investors in India.

Analysts see Jio Financial as a good opportunity for investors looking at maybe five years from now.

"They are creating a significantly large amount of value proposition. If one looks at the potential and the possibility in each of the four verticals in which they are operating, I would like to believe that these verticals are going to unfold and unfold big time," said Deven Choksey of DRChoksey FinServ.

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