Reliance likely to buy stake in mobile content provider Glance InMobi for $300 mn: Report

After a series of acquisitions in the past few months, Reliance Industries Ltd is now in talks with Glance InMobi Pte for buying a stake in the mobile content provider. Glance InMobi is backed by Alphabet Inc subsidiary Google Inc. Reliance may pump in around $300 million in the Indian unicorn, Bloomberg reported citing unidentified sources.

The transaction is expected to be closed in the next few weeks. The deal could involve strategic cooperation and financial elements. Glance InMobi shows curated content, including news and entertainment, on phone lock screens. It also runs a short-video mobile application called Roposo.

Analysts are seeing the current deal in the background of Reliance and Google co-developing an affordable phone, which could hit the market around Diwali. Besides, Reliance will gain a major foothold in the short-video format platform, a category that's throwing in India.

Google and Reliance Jio in July 2020 had announced a partnership to build a new Android-based operating system for an entry-level smartphone for the Indian market.

"As India is standing at the doorsteps of the 5G era, we should accelerate the migration of 350 million Indians, who currently use a 2G feature phone to an affordable smartphone," Reliance CMD Ambani had said. The upcoming affordable phone from Reliance Jio could be an entry-level 4G smartphone.

The smartphone was slated to be released in September but the launch got delayed due to semiconductor shortage across the world. Founded in 2019, Glance InMobi claims to have 130 million daily active users. It also runs a short-video format app, Roposo, in different Indian languages.

Reliance's subsidiary Retail Ventures this month also announced to have taken sole control of local search engine platform Just Dial Ltd. Reliance Retail acquired 1.31 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each of Just Dial at a price of Rs 1,020 per equity share.

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd closed 1.78 per cent higher at Rs 2,527 on the NSE on Monday.

Also read: Reliance Retail acquires sole control of Just Dial; holds 40.98% in local search engine platform'

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