Before opening the IPO of Jio Platforms, Akash Ambani on Saturday addressed a group of specially invited brokers from Gujarat and other major business centers of western India. People with knowledge of the matter said his attempt is like repeating the history created by Dhirubhai Ambani almost 50 years ago, when he brought about the IPO of parent company Reliance Industries, making millions of ordinary Indians shareholders. The talk was part of a global campaign led by Akash (34) to make India’s largest ever initial public offering (IPO) a success. Under this, more than 60 investor meetings are being organized in global financial centers including Hong Kong, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, London and New York.

The challenge of making the number successful

The company faces the challenge of making a success of one of the nation’s biggest problems amid a current sluggish stock market, a valuation lower than the family’s perceived ambitions and an ongoing public spat with Elon Musk over satellite communications. In that meeting, Jio Platforms MD Akash along with his twin sister Isha Ambani and banking veteran Uday Kotak were also present. Kotak is leading the IPO promotion and press conference as Senior Financial Advisor. Besides representing the book-running lead managers, he also acts as a historical link to the market heritage of the Reliance Group.

Meeting in Gujarati language

A person present at the meeting said that Kotak opened the meeting in Gujarati and addressed the participants as “my fellow brokers”. For the next 4-5 minutes, he spoke in pure Gujarati and resorted only to English to present concrete financial figures, the source said. In recent years, Isha has been rarely seen on the Jio platform, focusing on the retail business she has led.

In this meeting in Mumbai, he also spoke in Gujarati and credited Akash for Jio’s success. Youngest brother Anant, who was present at last week’s press conference and a separate investor meeting, did not attend Saturday’s event, another person said. He said that the presentation presented Reliance as a Gujarati company and a family business whose origin in the state is part of its identity. After this, arguments were made in favor of Jio IPO.

Reliance had a heyday in the 1970s and 1980s

Dhirubhai Ambani was born in Gujarat and Jio Platforms has also filed its red herring prospectus with the Registrar of Companies in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The message was specifically targeted at the regional broking community, whose retail clients stood strongly with Reliance in the 1970s and 1980s. At the end of the presentation brokers surrounded Akash for selfies and he tried to meet as many people as possible face to face as time allowed.

The aim was to take advantage of Gujarat’s deep business culture and long tradition of investing in stocks, sources said. The strategy is reminiscent of Dhirubhai Ambani’s success when Reliance went public in 1977 when he made ordinary Indian families shareholders and turned share sales into a lasting relationship with investors.