Having invested Rs. 5,655.75 crores (around $750 million) in Jio Platforms earlier this month, US private equity fund, Silver Lake, has now reportedly infused an additional Rs. 4,546.80 (around $600 million) crores into the company. The investment raises Silver’s Lake stake in Jio Platforms from 1.15% to 2.08%, said Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday. Jio Platforms houses Reliance’s telecom arm, Jio Infocomm, alongside the company’s music and video streaming apps.
In a press release, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and MD of RIL, said: “We are pleased to have their confidence and support, as well as the benefit of their leadership in global technology investing … 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”.
Reliance yesterday also announced a Rs. 9,093.6 crores ($1.2 billion) investment in Jio Platforms from Abu Dhabi state fund, Mubadala Investment. Prior to that, the company announced a series of other blockbuster deals in Jio Platforms, starting with a 9.9% stake sale to Facebook in April for Rs. 43,574 crores (around $5.7 billion).
The first round of investment from Silver Lake came soon thereafter, followed by deals with various global equity funds. In May, US-based Vista Equity Partners bought 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs. 11,367 crores (around $1.5 billion). Days later, global equity firm, General Atlantic, picked up 1.34 percent stake in the company. Thereafter, US-based private equity firm, KKR, bought a 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs. 11,367 crores ($1.5 billion).
