US-Based TPG To Buy 0.9% Stake In Jio Platforms For Rs 4,547 Crore

Reliance Industries said on Saturday that US-based TPG will buy a 0.93 per cent stake in its digital services arm Jio Platforms for Rs 4,546.80 crore. This marks the ninth investment in Jio Platforms - which houses billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries' telecoms arm Reliance Jio Infocomm - within eight weeks. With the TPG deal, Jio Platforms has raised a total Rs 1,02,432.45 crore from global technology investors, including US-based Facebook, Silver Lake and General Atlantic, and Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

The latest deal values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore, and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore, Reliance Industries said in a statement.

Reliance Industries has so far sold a total 21.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 1,02,432.45 crore since April 22.

Among US-based investors, Facebook will purchase a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, while Silver Lake Partners and its co-investors will take 2.08 per cent, Vista Equity Partners 2.32 per cent stake, General Atlantic 1.34 per cent and KKR 2.32 per cent.

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala and ADIA will buy 1.85 per cent and 1.16 per cent of Jio Platforms respectively.

The deals will help Reliance Industries meet the goal set by its chairman Mukesh Ambani to eliminating its net debt by the end of the current financial year.

"Today, I am happy to welcome TPG as valued investors in our continued efforts towards digitally empowering the lives of Indians through the creation of a digital ecosystem," said Mr Ambani. "We have been impressed by TPG's track record of investing in global technology businesses which serve hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses, making the societies we live in better."

On Friday, Reliance Industries shares had closed 3.34 per cent higher at Rs 1588.80 apiece on the BSE, outperforming the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index which rose 0.72 per cent.

Reliance Jio Infocomm - which started in 2016 - has already decimated several rivals with cut-throat pricing and is counting on Reliance Industries' retail network to expand into e-commerce. It provides telecom and digital services under brand Jio, and a connectivity platform to more than 38.8 crore subscribers.

TPG - a global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with more than $119 billion of assets under management - is making the investment from its TPG Capital Asia, TPG Growth and TPG Tech Adjacencies (TTAD) funds.