Reliance Industries on Friday announced a 2.32 percent stake sale in its telecom arm, Jio, to US-based private equity giant, KKR. Worth Rs. 11,367 crores ($1.5 billion), the deal values Reliance Jio’s digital business at Rs. 4.91 lakh crores (around $65 billion). It is the fifth major deal in Jio over the past four weeks, helping Reliance Industries mop-up a combined Rs. 78,562 crores. The money is expected to help the company pay off a portion of its debts worth Rs. 1.62 lakh crores (around $21.4 billion ).
“This transaction values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs. 4.91 lakh crores and an enterprise value of Rs. 5.16 lakh crores. This is KKR’s largest investment in Asia and will translate into a 2.32 percent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis”, Reliance Industries said in a statement.
Reliance has announced a series of blockbuster deals over the past few weeks, starting with a 9.9 percent stake sale to Facebook late last month. The deal, worth Rs. 43,574 crores (around $5.7 billion), put an enterprise value of Rs. 5 lakh crores (around $66 billion) on India’s largest wireless carrier.
That was followed by a deal with US private equity firm, Silver Lake, who bought a 1.15 percent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs. 5,665.75 crores (around $750 million). Earlier this month, US-based Vista Equity Partners bought 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs. 11,367 crores (around $1.5 billion). Last week, global equity firm, General Atlantic, picked up 1.34 percent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs. 6,598.38 crores (around Rs. 870 million).
In a statement announcing the latest deal, Reliance Industries said that investments by leading global investors will enable Jio to scale its ecosystem and help its development into a next-generation software product and platform company.
