Yet another money-making day for Reliance Industries. The telecom and digital arm of RIL, Jio Platforms has attracted its eleventh deal. The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, PIF (Public Investment Fund) will invest Rs 11,367 crore in Jio Platforms. It would take the valuation of Jio Platforms to Rs 4.91 lakh crore in equity value and Rs 5.16 lakh crore in enterprise value.
Once the invest gets through PIF will have 2.32 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms. With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised a total of Rs 115,693.95 crore shedding 24.7 per cent of its stake.
Jio Platforms has so far attracted ten leading global investors and eleven investment. The investments came from Facebook, Silver Lake (2 investment), Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton and finally PIF. It has raised Rs 104,326.95 crore by selling almost 22.38 per cent stake of the company.
As we said earlier, the Public Investment Fund is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. They’re investing in sectors and companies that would generate long-term commercial returns to drive Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation as part of Vision 2030 objectives.
Today’s investment from PIF on Jio Platforms is one of its largest investment into the Indian economy to-date.
“We are delighted to be investing in an innovative business which is at the forefront of the transformation of the technology sector in India… 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,” commented His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF in a press statement.
In the last three-and-a-half-year Reliance Jio has disrupted the entire telecom and digital ecosystem of India. With cheap data plans, the telco has gathered more than 388 million subscribers, thus wearing the crown of top telecom operator in India. The telco has built its world-class eco-system with services like JioTV (live tv streaming), JioSaavn (music streaming), JioPay (payment service), JioFibre broadband, LYF smartphones and smart devices. The best part here is that the telco has been offering these devices, applications, content and services at affordable tariffs as part of Jio Digital Life.
Moving ahead, Jio has also entered the retail sector with the launch of JioMart. With a backbone of more than 7K stores spread across India, JioMart is slowly pushing itself to more cities and regions.
“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,” commented Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of RIL in a press statement.