By Rama Venkat and Sethuraman N R
BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s Jio Financial Services (JFS), part of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate Reliance Industries, is set to be listed on stock exchanges on Aug. 21, according to exchange circulars on Friday.
Ambani’s Reliance had last month spun off JFS, with the stock price set at a much higher-than-expected 261.85 rupees, valuing it at around $20 billion in a special trading session.
The much-anticipated listing date comes at a time when index managers were growing concerned about the delay.
UK’s FTSE Russell on Thursday decided to remove JFS from its indexes due to the delay, but reversed the decision on Friday after the listing date was announced.
MSCI, another index services provider, said on Friday that JFS will be added to its Global Standard Indexes in place of Reliance Industries.
JFS is also part of major Indian indexes, including the benchmark Nifty 50, but it cannot be traded until it is listed and will be removed at the end of its third day of listing, as per exchange rules.
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.
Last month, JFS and U.S.-based BlackRock said they would form an equal joint venture to launch asset management services in India.
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.
Shares of Reliance Industries closed 0.7% higher.
(Reporting by Rama Venkat and Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Sonia Cheema)
