Reliance Industries on Friday announced the sale of a 2.32 per cent stake in its digital unit to US private equity giant KKR for Rs 11,367 crore, the fifth deal in four weeks that will inject a combined Rs 78,562 crore in the oil-to-telecom conglomerate to help it pare debt. This is KKR’s largest investment in Asia.
“This transaction values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. This is KKR's largest investment in Asia and will translate into a 2.32 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis,” the company said.
The deal follows Facebook picking up a 9.99 per cent stake in the company, valuing India’s youngest but largest telecom company on April 22 for Rs 43,574 crore.
Within days of that deal, 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 8, US-based Vista Equity Partners bought 2.32 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 11,367 crore. On May 17 global equity firm General Atlantic picked up a 1.34 per cent stake for Rs 6,598.38 crore.
“Over the last month, leading technology investors, such as Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista, General Atlantic and KKR have announced aggregate investments of Rs 78,562 crore into Jio Platforms,” it said.
“Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is a next-generation technology platform focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, with more than 388 million subscribers,” the statement said.
Founded in 1976, KKR has a long history of building leading global enterprises and successfully investing in businesses in the technology sector, including BMC Software, ByteDance and GoJek, through its private equity and technology growth funds.
Since inception, the firm has invested over $30 billion (total enterprise value) in tech companies and its technology portfolio currently has more than 20 companies across the technology, media and telecom sectors. In addition, India has been a key strategic market for KKR with a history of investing in the country since 2006.
