Defying Covid, Jio Platforms raises Rs 92,202 crore in six weeks

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SME Times News Bureau | 06 Jun, 2020
Reliance Industries Ltd and Jio Platforms Ltd announced on Friday that Silver Lake and its co-investors will invest an additional Rs 4,546.80 crore in Jio Platforms.

This is in addition to the Rs 5,655.75 crore of investment by Silver Lake announced on May 4, and brings the aggregate investment by Silver Lake and its co-investors to Rs 10,202.55 crore.

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, and will translate into a 2.08 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis.

This is an unprecedented seventh investment in Jio Platforms in just six weeks. With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 92,202.15 crore from leading technology investors including Facebook, Silver Lake Partners, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR and Mubadala.

Commenting on the aggregate investment brought by Silver Lake, 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."

Ambani added: "I would like to emphasise 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."

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. The investment momentum behind Jio validates a compelling business model and underscores our admiration for Mukesh Ambani, his team and their courageous vision in creating and building one of the world's most remarkable technology companies."

Silver Lake is world's largest tech investor is investing in Jio and has a terrific track record of investing in some of the largest and successful tech companies globally such as Twitter, Airbnb, Alibaba, Dell Technologies, ANT Financials, Twitter, Alphabet's Waymo and Verily, amongst others.

This investment is another strong endorsement of Jio's tech capabilities, disruptive business model and secular long-term growth potential.

This reaffirms Jio's continuing attraction among global investors for being the best representative of India's digital potential, deep understanding of the Indian markets, the rapid digitisation opportunity post-covid and capabilities to bring cutting-edge technologies and tools such as AI, and Blockchain.