Jio Platforms on Thursday received yet another investment from an overseas entity when the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia picked up a 2.32 per cent stake for Rs 11,367 crore in the Reliance Industries subsidiary.
This is the 11th such investment in Jio Platforms within nine weeks and it has cumulatively raised Rs 115,693.95 crore from leading global investors, including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG and L Catterton, since April.
While all these investors now together hold 24.70 per cent, the crucial question is whether Reliance will continue to hawk stakes to overseas entities.
Analysts are of the view that the holding of such financial investors is unlikely to breach 25 per cent.
However, at the same time, they do not rule out the possibility of more such stake sales to marquee investors.
PIF is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and it has made its largest investment into the Indian economy till date with this investment.
Sources close to RIL said that PIF’s investment is at a similar valuation to the other recent private equity investments in Jio – equity valuation of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and enterprise valuation of Rs 5.16 lakh crore.
Jio Platforms houses India’s biggest telecom firm by subscribers, Reliance Jio. With more than 388 million users, Reliance Jio has forced out several rivals and driven consolidation in the telecom 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.
A RIL statement said that with the addition of PIF’s investment, Jio Platforms has established partnerships with a strong set of global financial investors, who will contribute to establishing the digital society vision for India.
Stocks rise
Ahead of the announcement, shares of RIL settled 2.53 per cent, or Rs 40.85, higher on the BSE.
With PIF investing 2.32 per cent in Jio Platforms, the crucial question is whether Saudi Aramco will also become an investor in RIL’s oil-to-chemical business.
