Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala to buy 1.85% stake in Jio platforms for Rs 9,094 cr

MUMBAI: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries announced on Friday that Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), will take a 1.85 per cent equity stake in the conglomerate's digital unit, Jio Platforms for Rs 9,093.60 crore.

The investment in Jio Platforms - which houses Reliance Industries's telecoms arm Reliance Jio Infocomm - comes at at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore, it said in a statement released early on Friday. The investment from Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor Mubadala follows Jio's deals with Facebook, Silver Lake and General Atlantic in the past few weeks.

With the latest investment, Jio Platform has raised Rs 87,655.35 crore from leading global technology and growth investors, including US-based Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic and KKR within less than six weeks.

The deal marked Mubadala's largest investment in an Indian firm.

Reliance Industries said the Mubadala investment is another strong endorsement of Jio's technological capabilities, disruptive business model and long-term growth potential.

"I am delighted that Mubadala, one of the most astute and transformational global growth investors, has decided to partner us in our journey to propel India's digital growth towards becoming a leading digital nation in the world," said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries.

Abu Dhabi's state-run Mubadala Investment Company is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio to generate financial returns. It is the second-biggest state investor in Abu Dhabi after Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), managing about $240 billion in assets.

Reliance Industries shares rose as much as 2.39 per cent to touch a record high of Rs 1,617.70 apiece on Friday. At 10:13 am, the RIL stock was up 0.73 per cent at Rs 1,591.45, outperforming the benchmark Sensex index which was up 0.41 per cent.

Reliance Industries has now sold a combined 19 per cent stake in Jio Platforms through six fundraising deals.

The deals will help Reliance Industries meet Mr Ambani's target of eliminating net debt by the end of the financial year .

Besides Mubadala, Reliance Industries is also in discussions with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia's The Public Investment Fund, news agency Bloomberg reported this week citing people familiar with the matter.

Reliance Jio Infocomm - which started in 2016 - has already decimated several rivals with cut-throat pricing and is counting on Reliance Industries' retail network to expand into e-commerce. It provides telecom and digital services under brand Jio, and a connectivity platform to more than 38.8 crore subscribers.