Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to invest Rs 11,367 crore in Jio Platforms

Reliance Industries and Jio Platforms on Thursday announced an investment of Rs 11,367 crore by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

This investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore.

PIF's investment will translate into a 2.32 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 115,693.95 crore from leading global investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG and L Catterton.

A RIL release said that with the addition of PIF's investment, Jio Platforms has established partnerships with a marquee set of global financial investors, who will contribute to establishing the digital society vision for India.

This is an unprecedented eleventh investment in Jio Platforms within nine weeks since April 22 this year. At Rs 115,693.95 crore, it is the largest continuous funds raised by a company anywhere in the world and was done amidst a global lock-down, "clearly signifying India's digital potential and Jio's business strategy".

PIF is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and as part of its mandate to diversify its economy, has made its largest investment into the Indian economy to-date.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, welcomed PIF as a valued partner in Jio Platforms.

"We at Reliance have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for many decades. From Oil Economy, this relationship is now moving to strengthen India's New Oil (Data-driven) Economy, as is evident from PIF's investment into Jio Platforms," he said.

"I have greatly admired the defining role PIF has played in driving the economic transformation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I welcome PIF as a valued partner in Jio Platforms and look forward to their sustained support and guidance as we take ambitious steps to accelerate India's digital transformation for enriching and empowering the lives of 1.3 billion Indians," he added.

Governor of PIF Yasir Al-Rumayyan, said the potential of the Indian digital economy is very exciting.

"We are delighted to be investing in an innovative business which is at the forefront of the transformation of the technology sector in India. We believe that the potential of the Indian digital economy is very exciting and that Jio Platforms provides us with an excellent opportunity to gain access to that growth. This investment will also enable us to generate significant long-term commercial returns for the benefit of Saudi Arabia's economy and our country's citizens, in line with our mandate to safeguard and grow the national wealth of the Kingdom," he said.

The transaction is subject to Indian regulatory and other customary approvals.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB and Partners and Davis Polk and Wardwell acted as legal counsels.

Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is a next-generation technology company focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, with more than 388 million subscribers.

PIF is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of nearly $400 billion. The investment is in line with PIF's strategy and mandate of investing in sectors and companies that generate long-term commercial returns to drive Saudi Arabia's economic transformation as part of Vision 2030 objectives.

The release said that the investment further reaffirms Jio's continuing attraction among global investors for being the best representative of India's digital potential, deep understanding of the Indian markets, rapid digitisation opportunity post-COVID and capabilities to bring cutting-edge technologies and tools such as AI, Blockchain, AR/VR, Big data into play for all Indians.

Source: The New Indian Express