It's raining cheques for Ambani! Saudi Arabia-based PIF to invest Rs 11,367 crore in Jio Platforms

Saudi Arabia-based Public Investment Fund (PIF) will invest Rs 11,367 crore for a 2.32 per cent equity stake in Mukesh Ambani's Jio Platforms Limited on a fully diluted basis, making it the 11th company to do so in around two months. The investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised over Rs 1.15 lakh crore (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.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, "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."

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PIF is one of the largest and most impactful sovereign wealth funds in the world and acts as Saudi Arabia's main investment arm to deliver a strategy focused on achieving attractive financial returns and long-term value for it in line with Vision 2030. "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," Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF, said.

JPL was created as a subsidiary of RIL in October last year to bring together all digital and mobility businesses under one roof. The new entity has become the parent of Reliance Jio Infocomm and applications like MyJio, JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews and JioSaavn, besides content-generation ventures. Thus, the operating company Reliance Jio became a step-down subsidiary of RIL.

For making JPL debt-free, the parent company has infused Rs 1.08 lakh crore in it. They want to build JPL like Alibaba and Google, which claim high valuations in the stock markets. RIL has been using the cash flow from its flagship petroleum refining business to build the telecom and retail subsidiaries all these years. The Indian conglomerate has spent about Rs 4 lakh crore to build Reliance Jio.

Here's a timeline of Jio Platform's fundraising journey so far.

• April 22: Facebook investment: The social media giant announced an investment of Rs 43,574 crore in Reliance Jio accounting for a 9.99% stake in the company's platforms.
• May 3: Silver Lake- The American private equity (PE) giant will pick a 1.15% stake in Reliance Jio with an investment of Rs 5,656 crore in its platforms.
• May 8: Vista Equity- The US-based private equity firm will pick a 2.32 per cent stake in RIL's Jio platforms for Rs 11,367 crore.
• May 17: General Atlantic- The New York-headquartered PE firm announced an investment of Rs 6,598 crore in Reliance Jio for a 1.34% stake.
• May 22: KKR- The US-based PE company will buy a 2.32% stake in Jio platforms for Rs 11,367 crore.
• June 5: Mubadala- The Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor announced an equity infusion of Rs 9,093 in Reliance Jio on Friday in exchange for a 1.85% stake in the telecom arm of RIL.
• June 13: RIL on Saturday announced TPG will invest Rs 4,546.80 crore in Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. This is the ninth investment for the company in the last seven weeks.
• June 13: L Catterton, one of the world's largest consumer-focused private equity firms, will also invest Rs 1,894.50 crore in JPL. L Catterton's investment will translate into a 0.39 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis.
• June 18: Saudi Arabia-based PIF decided to invest Rs 11,367 crore in JPL for a 2.32 per cent equity stake on a fully diluted basis, making it the 11th company to do so in around two months.

Also read: Mukesh Ambani's youngest son Anant debuts in Jio Platforms as director