In what would mark the 8th mega investment round for Reliance-owned Jio Platforms in the past seven weeks, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is investing $751.5Mn in the Mukesh Ambani owned company at a $65Bn enterprise valuation.
With this round, the telecom-to-digital behemoth has now raised close to $13 Billion in external financing in 8 rounds in the past seven weeks. The money has come in from 7 investors, such as Facebook, General Atlantic, KKR, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, Mubadala and now ADIA.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is the sovereign wealth fund for the Abu Dhabi government. ADIA’s investment will translate into a 1.16% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised ₹ 97,885.65 crore ($13 Billion) in total. Within this week itself, Jio Platforms has raised over $2.5 Billion, from the likes of Abu Dhabhi sovereign fund Mubadala, existing investor Silver Lake and now another Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADIA.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “I am delighted that ADIA, with its track record of more than four decades of successful long-term value investing across the world, is partnering with Jio Platforms in its mission to take India to digital leadership and generate inclusive growth opportunities.”
Ambani’s business ties with Abu Dhabi go deep back in time, largely due to his oils and petrochemical business. The MIddle East has been an active partner for Ambani’s core Reliance Industries business, with Saudi Aramco recently announcing a 20% stake pickup in the company. Thus, deals from Mubadala and now ADIA were largely along anticipated lines.
As has been the case for all of Jio Platforms’ fundraises so far, the company is looking to turn itself into a digital technology behemoth. 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 blockchain. “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.”, the company added in its statement.
Some of those proposed digital products have already started to roll out, such as the JioMart ecommerce store and its Whatsapp-based version. Jio will continue to roll out similar digital products, mostly in close partnership with Facebook, the second largest shareholder in the company.
