With this investment, Jio Platforms has
raised Rs 115,693.95 crore from some of the leading global investment
powerhouses at a time when the world is deeply impacted by the coronavirus
pandemic.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Thursday said it has sold a
2.32 per cent stake in its digital unit to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment
Fund (PIF) for Rs 11,367 crore, taking the cumulative fund raising to
about Rs 1.16 lakh crore in two months.
Starting with Facebook Inc on April 22, Reliance has sold
almost 25 per cent of equity in Jio Platforms - the maximum reports suggest the
company intends to dilute to financial investors.
The
investment by Saudi sovereign wealth fund is "at an equity value of Rs
4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore", the
company said in a statement.
With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs
115,693.95 crore from some of the leading global investment powerhouses at a
time when the world is deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, resulting
in a recession kind of environment for the global economy.
"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," the statement said.
Jio Platforms houses
India's biggest telecom firm by subscribers, Reliance Jio.
With more than 388 million
users, Jio has forced out several rivals and driven consolidation in the sector
since entering the market in 2016 with free voice services and cut-price data.
Over the past two months,
billionaire Mukesh Ambani's oil-to-telecom conglomerate has announced the sale
of about $14 billion of assets, completed a Rs 53,124 crore rights issue and
slowed the run rate of new investment by a quarter.
These will help Reliance
meet its target of paying off Rs 1.61 lakh crore of net debt by the end of the
year.
This is PIF's largest
investment into the Indian economy to date.
Ambani, chairman and
managing director of Reliance Industries, said, "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."
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor
of PIF, commented: "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 & Partners and
Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels.
Prior to this deal,
Reliance had sold 22.38 per cent of Jio Platforms to investors including
Facebook Inc, securing Rs 104,326.95 crore in eight weeks.
Facebook kicked off the
party, investing Rs 43,573.62 crore for a 9.99 per cent stake on April 22.
Silver Lake - the world's
largest tech investor - bought a 1.15 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs
5,665.75 crore on May 4.
It invested another Rs
4,546.80 crore for additional 0.93 per cent stake on June 5, taking its total
holding to 2.08 per cent.
Private equity KKR and
Vista Equity Partners have taken 2.32 per cent stake each for Rs 11,367 crore
apiece. KKR invested in Jio Platforms on May 22 while Vista invested on May 8.
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth
fund Mubadala Investment Co picked up 1.85 per cent in Jio Platforms for Rs
9,093.60 crore on June 5.
Abu Dhabi Investment
Authority on June 7 invested Rs 5,683.50 crore for a 1.16 per cent stake in Jio
Platforms.
On May 17 global equity
firm General Atlantic picked up 1.34 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs
6,598.38 crore.
Global investment firm TPG
on June 13 picked up 0.93 per cent for Rs 4,546.80 crore while L Catterton
bought 0.39 per cent for Rs 1,894.50 crore.
No comments:
Post a Comment