With INR 11,367 cr, Saudi Arabia's PIF Is 10th Investor in Jio Platforms Jio Platforms has raised INR 115,693.95 crore from 10 leading global investors in return of 24.70 per cent stake
By Shipra Singh
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF has announced to invest INR 11,367 crore in Reliance Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Industries (RIL).
With the latest deal, Jio Platforms has raised INR 115,693.95 crore from 10 leading global investors— Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton—in less than nine weeks, giving out a total of 24.70 per cent stake. The first funding announcement came from social media giant Facebook on 22 April of INR 43,574 crore ($5.7 bn), which is also the largest so far.
PIF will pick a 2.32 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms for the investment, pegging the company at an equity value of INR 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of INR 5.16 lakh crore.
"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. I have greatly admired the defining role PIF has played in driving the economic transformation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," RIL Chairman Ambani said.
PIF is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and has made its largest investment into India till date. This 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 company statement said.
"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," Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF said.
In April, RIL stated that it plans to raise over INR 1.04 lakh crore by Q1 of the current financial year as part of its target to become net debt free by March 2021. It has surpassed this target by INR 11,693 crore with the latest deal with PIF. RIL's net debt stood at INR 1.61 lakh crore as of March 31, 2020.
Jio Platforms is the umbrella entity of phone and data unit Jio Infocomm and several other app platforms such as JioMart, JioSaavn and JioCinema.
