Mumbai/Kolkata: Reliance Industries and Jio Platforms on Friday announced raising an investment of Rs.4,546.80 crore in Jio Platforms from Silver Lake and its co-investors.
RIL said Silver Lake and its co-investors will invest an additional Rs.4,546.80 crore in Jio Platforms, in addition to the Rs.5,655.75 crore of investment by Silver Lake announced on May 4, 2020. The investment by Silver Lake came exactly a month after it had bought a 1.15% stake for Rs 5,655.75 crore in May.
Silver Lake’s investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs.4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs.5.16 lakh crore, taking the total investment to Rs 10,202.55 crore for a 2.08% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs.92,202.15 crore from leading technology investors in less than six weeks.
Beside Silver Lake’s second round of investment, Jio Platforms had so far raised investments from leading global technology and growth investors including Facebook, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala including a first tranche from Silver Lake in six weeks. Facebook still remains the largest investor with Rs.43,573.62 crore investment in an exchange of 9.99% stake.
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. Jio Platforms has made significant investments across its digital ecosystem, powered by leading technologies spanning broadband connectivity, smart devices, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented and mixed reality and block chain.
Jio’s vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion people and businesses across the country, including small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers so that all of them can enjoy the fruits of inclusive growth.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd, said, “Silver Lake and its co-investors are valued partners as we continue to grow and transform the Indian digital ecosystem for the benefit of all Indians. We are pleased to have their confidence and support, as well as the benefit of their leadership in global technology investing and their valued network of relationships, as we drive the Indian Digital Society’s transformation.”
He said, “I would like to emphasize that Silver Lake’s additional investment in Jio Platforms, within a span of five weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic, is a strong endorsement of the intrinsic resilience of the Indian economy, which will surely grow bigger with comprehensive digital enablement.”
With approximately $40 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a singular focus on the world’s great tech and tech-enabled opportunities, Silver Lake is the global leader in large-scale technology investing. Its mission is to build and grow great companies by partnering with world-class management teams. Its investments have included Airbnb, Alibaba, Alphabet’s Verily and Waymo units, Dell Technologies, Twitter and numerous other global technology leaders.
Mr. Egon Durban, Silver Lake Co-CEO and Managing Partner, said, “We are excited to increase our exposure and bring more of our co-investors into this opportunity, further supporting Jio Platforms in its mission to bring the power of high-quality and affordable digital services to a mass consumer and small businesses population.”
Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB & Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels. Latham & Watkins LLP, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsels to Silver Lake.