Jio Financial eyes Rs 10k crore via maiden bond issue

Jio Financial Services is in initial discussions with merchant bankers for its inaugural bond issuance. Mukesh Ambani?s financial services venture is looking to raise between Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore through five-year bonds, which could be during January-March. ?As it is an NBFC (non-banking financial company), coming to the market for the first time, it can?t go too long or too short. The market expects a five-year bond issuance in the last quarter of this financial year,? said Venkatakrishnan Srinivasan, founder and managing partner, Rockfort Fincap. The NBFC is undergoing a credit-rating process and obtaining the approvals, according to sources. ?Looking at its capitalisation and such a large industrial presence, in all probability, it will get the AAA rating. But so far, there is no rating announced,? said Ajay Manglunia, managing director and head (institutional fixed income), JM Financial. Jio Financial Services doubled its net profit during the second quarter this financial year (Q2FY24) to Rs 668.18 crore from Rs 331.92 crore in Q1FY24 on the back of healthy growth in revenue. The demerged financial arm of Reliance Industries aims to become a full-service financial sector player with operations across retail lending, asset management, insurance broking, and digital payments. The company has announced a 50:50 joint venture with BlackRock for an asset management business. According to the arrangement, the two entities will make an initial investment of $150 million each.