Reliance completes $7 billion rights as Jio deals spur frenzy

Reliance Industries concluded its $7 billion share sale as part of a fund-raising drive aimed at paying net debt down to zero and backing the oil-to-telecommunications group’s shift toward e-commerce.

The world’s biggest rights offering by a non-financial company in at least a decade was oversubscribed at least 1.3 times. The company, India’s largest, got bids for 550 million shares against the 422.62 million shares on offer, according to data on the BSE’s website at 5 p.m. Mumbai time.

Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, has been plowing more of his own fortune into the company while bringing in new backers from Facebook Inc. to U.S.-based private equity investors including Silver Lake Partners for Jio Platforms, the holding company for its wireless carrier Reliance Jio Infocomm More deals are on the way, people familiar with the matter said.