Silver Lake to invest Rs 5,655 cr in Jio Platforms at higher valuation than Facebook deal

Global tech investor Silver Lake has decided to invest Rs 5,655.75 crore in Reliance Industries Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.9 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.15 lakh crore. RIL said it represents 12.5 per cent premium to the equity valuation of the Facebook investment announced on April 22. "In the wake of the severe economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, globally and especially within India, this partnership with one of the most renowned tech-investors globally, Silver Lake, has special significance," the RIL statement said.

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Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, is bringing together Jio's leading digital apps, digital ecosystems and its connectivity platform under one umbrella. Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, which has over 38.8 crore subscribers, will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platform, the company said.

"Silver Lake has an outstanding record of being a valuable partner for leading technology companies globally. Silver Lake is one of the most respected voices in technology and finance. We are excited to leverage insights from their global technology relationships for the Indian Digital Society's transformation," RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said.

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With around $40 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital, Silver Lake is the global leader in large-scale technology investing. Silver Lake's other investment include Airbnb, Alibaba, Ant Financial, Alphabet's Verily and Waymo units, Dell Technologies, Twitter and other global technology leaders.

"Jio Platforms is one of the world's most remarkable companies, led by an incredibly strong and entrepreneurial management team who are driving and actualizing a courageous vision. They have brought extraordinary engineering capabilities to bear on bringing the power of low-cost digital services to a mass consumer and small businesses population," Egon Durban, Silver Lake Co-CEO and Managing Partner, said.

Notably, Facebook had also bought 9.99 per cent stake in Ambani's Jio Platforms for Rs 43,574 crore on April 22, making it the largest minority shareholder in the company.

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